Fix the institutional flaws

Lately, there are obvious lobby attempts to bring back a State policy that was removed in a Congress-approved law that created the Philippine National Police (PNP). This is Republic Act 6975 that was passed into law in 1991. Under this law, it provided for – among other things – the gradual phasing out of graduates from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) as commissioned officers of the PNP.

The entry of PMA graduates to the police service ended in 1991 with the passage of RA 6975, which created the PNP, a police organization national in scope and civilian in character. RA 6975 was the enabling law to comply with the provisions of the country’s 1987 Constitution. PMA Class 1992, which was the last batch admitted to the PNP, will retire in 2026 yet.

Thus, the PNP was placed directly under the supervision of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). It was previously under the Department of National Defense (DND) along with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

It was among the legislative measures pushed in Congress by the late President Corazon Aquino to remove the remaining vestiges of the martial law regime.

At present, key positions in the PNP hierarchy are still lorded over by the so-called PMAers, including current PNP Director-General Alan Purisima, who belonged to Class 1981.

Purisima is said to be the shooting mentor of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III while the former was still assigned at the Presidential Security Group (PSG) during the term of P-Noy’s late mother.

Purisima himself is scheduled to retire in 2015 yet. At present, there is reportedly jockeying even among these PMAers for the No. 4 highest-ranking post at the PNP, chief of directorial staff — which has been vacant for over a month now. The top contenders are Purisima’s own “mistah” at PMA Class 1981. The two aspirants are Police Director Alex Monteagudo, who is reportedly identified with DILG Secretary Mar Roxas II, and Police Director Napoleon Estilles who is allegedly close to Purisima.

After RA 6975 came into effect, PMA graduates henceforth can only go to their preferred service commands at the AFP, which includes the Philippine Army (PA), the Philippine Air Force (PAF), and the Philippine Navy (PN). They are commissioned as Second Lieutenants, or Ensign in the Navy. No less than their commander-in-chief ceremonially presides the commencement rites held each year at the PMA grounds in Fort Del Pilar in Baguio City.

The government is spending at least P2 million for each PMA cadet to be part of the AFP as required by law. And that’s taxpayers’ money to produce the best military training for field commanders to lead the defense of our country against internal and external threats.

In fact, it was only just last February when President Aquino administered the latest commissioning into AFP of this year’s batch of PMA graduates. Of the 124 graduates of the 2013 PMA Class, 66 of them joined the Army; 24 went to PAF, and 33 went to the Navy.

The attempt to revert to the previous policy of allowing PMA graduates to join the police force came to light last week after The STAR got hold of copies of a series of communications pushing for the re-entry of PMA graduates to the PNP. The proposal was being spearheaded by the PMA Alumni Association Inc.

In their communications, this group of PMA graduates asked both PNP chief Purisima and Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista to endorse to President Aquino a draft executive order (EO) that will allow PMA graduates to re-enter the PNP and the Philippine Coast Guard.

Under this proposal, only about five to 10 graduates from PMA every year would be accommodated in the PNP. If ever the proposal would be approved, it will only be implemented starting next year at the PMA, meaning graduates of Class 2018 will be the first batch to enter the PNP again.

No less than the designated spokesman of the PNP was practically selling this idea in a press conference held last Monday at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, who currently heads the PNP public information office (PIO), belongs to PMA Class 1984.

Sindac was quoted comparing the difference of PMA graduates being commissioned to the PNP with the graduates produced by the PNP Academy in Silang, Cavite.

To justify the illegal entry of PMA grad to PNP, the PMA was described by PNP spokesperson as “ crispy pata” while the PNPA was likened to a “fried chicken” in a menu of leadership quality.

With this comparison, the newly designated PIO chief of the PNP literally lived up to his last name (Sindac) which roughly translates to “scare” in English.

Why should PMA graduates — with all the major service commands of the AFP in dire need of highly trained officers to lead soldiers in the field – insist to be commissioned instead to the PNP? Is there such a sentiment at the PMA, or are certain groups trying to create such sentiments where there are none?

Except for many from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), a majority of military officers have reportedly rejected this proposal being advanced by PMAAI. In an undated PMAAAI-sponsored survey conducted by a study committee composed of active military, police and PCG officers, results showed that the PNP officers’ corps were evenly divided on the issue while 89.3 percent of PCG officers favored and welcomed the move. On the other hand, the proposal is being questioned by 56 percent of the entire corps of military officers who rejected it.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This popular idiomatic expression could well be the words of advice to policymakers who would have the final say on this matter. Then again, smart alecks will argue that PNP needs fixing what with all the scandals through these years that tainted the country’s police organization.

But then it can also be argued that the PMA also has the notoriety of having produced the mutinous officers behind the Magdalo and the RAM and other scams and scandals that rocked both the PNP and AFP.

However, going back to an abandoned practice is backsliding instead of moving forward the PNP as an organization that needs to have these institutional reforms take root and produce the desired results.