Marcos Jr. at PNP command conference: Not a loyalty check

MANILA, Philippines —  It was not a loyalty check but an admonition to strengthen focus on addressing criminality, the country’s national police chief said yesterday of his first command conference with President Marcos at Camp Crame, amid rumors of destabilization attempts.

Marcos arrived at Camp Crame before 11 a.m. and presided over a meeting with Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. and senior police officials for about an hour.

During the meeting, Acorda said they briefed the Chief Executive on the PNP’s operational accomplishments under his administration.

Security was tight around Camp Crame, which was placed on lockdown until Marcos left the police camp. Media coverage was not allowed during the meeting.

“No, I don’t consider it as a loyalty check,” Acorda said at a briefing when asked about the agenda for the command conference. “He wants us to really focus on our crime solution efficiency, which he recognized as something we have achieved.”

He noted that Marcos earlier had similar command conference with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Camp Aguinaldo.

“Actually, this is his first time and on the part of the PNP, we are very much happy for him to preside over our command conference,” Acorda said.

But he admitted assuring Marcos that the PNP is solidly behind his administration, and that the institution is faithful to its mandate of maintaining peace and order as well as preserving the rule of law.

He stressed that nothing was discussed about destabilization, although he said the Chief Executive mentioned something about rallies by certain groups, which he did not identify.

Cause oriented groups and other organizations are expected to assemble on Feb. 25 for the 38th anniversary of the EDSA people power revolution.

Improved communications

In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office said the President directed the PNP to improve its communications capability as he expressed concern over its reported low equipment capacity.

The PCO said the PNP is still far from satisfying at least half of its requirement for communications equipment as of Feb. 14. The police force posted a 32.05 percent fill-up for digital radio, 33.98 percent for tactical radio and 2.48 percent for satellite phones. The procurement of these communication equipment is programmed under the PNP Capability Enhancement Program.

Marcos said the police force should be more strategic in acquiring communications equipment to further enhance its interoperability, especially during crisis and emergency situations.

“We really need to come up with a plan to improve the communications capability of PNP. You cannot do your job without being able to communicate because you will wait for instructions, you will report to the central office, et cetera,” the President told police officials at the conference.

“So that’s something that, I think, we need to look into very well, because the fill-up is so low. Even digital radio, tactical—we have not reached 40 percent in any of the categories,” he added.

According to the PCO, the PNP has yet to complete its purchase of 18 units of conventional repeaters worth P54 million and 80 units of satellite phones amounting to P6.5 million under last year’s capability enhancement program.

This year, the police aims to buy 2,039 units of body worn cameras, one unit of digital trunked radio system, an additional 18 units of conventional repeaters, and 420 units of VHF low band handheld radio worth P585 million.

Delayed procurement

The PNP admitted that the procurement for this year was delayed because of issues concerning terms of reference. The PNP seeks to complete the procurement for 2023 and 2024 within the year to raise its fill-up rate to 32.07 percent for digital radio, 39.17 percent for tactical radio and 6.03 percent for satellite radio.

“We have to be able to communicate (with) each other, especially for disaster response. We need to know the situation on the ground. The police personnel there should be able to immediately report what is happening, the situation, that’s what we need,” Marcos said.

Marcos also instructed police officials to study the use of other communications equipment that may be suited to local situations, saying technology and communications gadgets like satellite phones are getting better and cheaper. He cited the equipment being used by police forces in other countries and instructed the PNP to determine which of them can be used in the Philippines.

“We have to study thoroughly what it is that we can do so we can provide our people with the best possible communications equipment,” the Chief Executive said.

Marcos also reminded the PNP to ensure that all communication equipment are standardized to ensure interoperability across the country.

“Even if the police officer is transferred to another place, the equipment should be the same, the procedure should be the same, the system should be the same. So, I think that’s (a) very important thing: there has to be consistency,” the President added.

Intensified drive vs cybercrime

At the same meeting, Marcos instructed the PNP to strengthen its efforts against cybercrime, noting that the number of cases increased to 21,300 last year from 13,890 in 2022.

Citing PNP data, the PCO said online scams topped the list of cybercrimes at 15,937, followed by illegal access at 4,821, and computer-related identity theft cases at 2,384 from July 1, 2022 to Jan. 31 this year.

The high number of cybercrime cases, the President said, indicates how technology has evolved and how the police have to keep up to stop the trend.

He cited the need for the PNP to enhance prevention, detection and investigation of cases to fight cybercrimes since crime modalities have become sophisticated. – Alexis Romero