PNP policing its own ranks

Mr. Federico Pascual’s October 30 column, “Postscript,” questioned who’ll now police the police general? As the Regional Director and the chief of the 28,000-strong personnel of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), I feel compelled to answer and clarify some of the issues raised by the good columnist, Mr. Pascual.

The supposed reason given by PO1 Valencia, as quote “Sir, may pamilya po ako. Sir hindi na po bago sa ating mga operatiba ’yung ganoon, kapag may nahuli po tayong drug pusher, Sir,” was taken out of context by Mr. Pascual. The statement of PO1 Valencia refers to the customary counter-charges filed by the drug suspects to the operatives; to put the police in bad light and to cast doubt on the arrest and case of these drug suspects. The word “ganoon” alludes to the counter-charges usually filed by drug suspects and this is nothing new in our illegal drugs campaign.

To put it in another way, the statement of PO1 Valencia if perceived otherwise convicts him on the spot. It is tantamount to admitting that he indeed raped the girl. On the contrary, subject policeman vehemently denied the rape accusation.

Given the evidence and the testimony of the victim, I consider the statement of PO1 Valencia as an alibi. In fact, I have asked our investigators to give priority to this case and to immediately file the necessary criminal and administrative charges against the said policeman.

To answer your question, “who’ll police the police?,” we have been policing our own ranks. In fact, our Chief PNP, Director General Oscar D. Albayalde has “Internal Cleansing” as his priority project. We have been relentless in going after personnel who are a disgrace to our uniform.

Available data from our Discipline, Law and Order Section, NCRPO show that from January 2016 to October 2018, 426 policemen have been dismissed from the service, 86 have been demoted, 4,209 have been relieved and/or penalized with suspension for administrative cases with possibility of dismissal.

Definitely, we do not condone illegal and irregular activities among our ranks. Hence, this Police Office is exerting all efforts to provide the best police service to ensure the safety of the public and the community in general. – Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, Police Regional Director, NCRPO