General Ronald dela Rosa wants PMA grads back in PNP

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa may push for the reentry of graduates from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) into the police organization to fill vacancies.

Dela Rosa said graduates from the PNP Academy (PNPA) are not sufficient to meet the demand for police officers with rank of inspector and higher.

He, however, noted that PMA graduates yearly could also not fill the need of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Dela Rosa said he would also ask the PNPA under Philippine Public Safety College president Ricardo de Leon to “increase the quota” of PNPA cadets to address the PNP’s needs.

For this year, there were about 150  graduates of PNPA, but only about 50 percent of them joined the PNP while the rest chose the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), both attached agencies of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). 

Upon graduation from the PNPA, cadets are conferred the rank of inspector, equivalent to lieutenant in the military.

The late president Corazon Aquino initiated the demilitarization of the police force in an effort to address abuses and other human rights violations committed by the Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police during martial law.

In 1991, Republic Act No. 6975 creating the PNP was signed. The law is national in scope but civilian in character, distinct from the AFP.

PMA Class 1992 became the last batch of military graduates that entered the PNP and will be serving in the PNP until 2026, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.

The same law paved the way for the creation of the PNPA, which trains future police officers for public safety.

At present, many key positions in the PNP are held by PMA graduates, including Dela Rosa, a member of PMA Class 1986.

Dela Rosa’s predecessors, who were also PMAers, tried but failed to have PMA alumni back into the police organization.

In the past, some PNPA graduates claimed they were treated as “second class citizens” by PMAers, who denied such perceptions.