Transforming the Men in Blue

When dealing with lawlessness is your main business and corruption is rife around you, expect criticism–a lot of it. Even from your No. 1 supporter.

So relates the country’s top cop, Gen. Arturo Lomibao, whose 23-year-old son Arthur Chase plies him with man- in-the-street observations on the police force and reactions to police programs.

"Arthur says ‘Dad, I am getting tired of defending you. I still see a lot of bad things happening. It seems you are not doing anything,’" the 55-year-old PNP chief shares one dinner time conversation.

Arthur also sends him text messages daily. "One time I was in Davao when he texted that two TMG (traffic management group) personnel were drunk in Metrowalk (a commercial area in Ortigas Center) while in uniform," he recalls.

Lomibao acknowledges the problems of the 115,00-strong Philippine National Police (PNP), but vows that times will be a-changin’ once the "transformation program" takes hold throughout the police force.

Lomibao sat down with STARweek for a one-on-one in his office in Camp Crame soon after he and a platoon of ranking PNP officials paid The STAR office a visit two weeks ago. Generals usually come off as intimidating–stern and tough in all angles. But this one’s refreshingly cool and mellow, much like his favorite singer, Ol’ Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra. It’s not much of a surprise then that the general plays the guitar and–friends insist–can belt out a good version of Sinatra. What may be a bit unexpected is that J-Lo is a favorite too, perhaps an influence of his children.

What was supposed to be a "relatively free" Thursday morning turned out to be packed with meetings and a waiting room filled with callers. We were ushered in for our interview an hour late, after a major meeting that included a couple of stern-looking foreigners. Asked what the serious agenda was about, Lomibao says they discussed the training component of the PNP’s transformation program –a pet project of his that aims to institute changes within the PNP in the "physical, spiritual and mental" aspects.

After gamely posing for photos, he shows us around the office occupied by several previous PNP chiefs. "Only the table moves around, depending on where the PNP chief wants it," he says of the large wooden desk. "Gen. (Edgar) Aglipay had it near the window", referring to his predecessor. Lomibao is the fourth PNP chief since the Arroyo presidency began in 2001.

On his fifth month at the PNP helm, Lomibao is in full gear promoting the PNP transformation program, which comes at a time when practically the entire administration–from the President and her family to police officials including Lomibao–are accused of receiving protection money from jueteng. Lomibao denies this.

Hanging as well over his head is a year-end deadline set by Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes to reverse the perceived downtrend in the peace and order situation in the country.

Lomibao says there indeed has been a slight increase in some criminal activities over the past three months, especially in kidnap-for-ransom cases which hounded the Filipino-Chinese community in particular during the 1990s.

"The past three months, KFR cases were slightly higher than the average last year, where two kidnapping cases occurred per month during the same period," he says, but adds that compared to 1999 figures–where on average two KFR cases happened per week–the current data is "very, very low." Lomibao assures that these "emerging" KFR groups are small-time criminals, demanding only less than a million pesos on the average.

The resumption of checkpoints in sensitive areas in the metropolis, continuing the reward system for information on KFR suspects and updating and publishing the most wanted criminals list are among the measures being implemented to counter the upsurge in crime.

With regards the controversial and long drawn out problem of jueteng, Lomibao says the police are "way ahead" of the Sept. 15 deadline set by the President for the elimination of the numbers game.

When he took over, the PNP chief got down to business: He revised the "three-strike policy" wherein three positive police raids led to the relief of the police chief responsible for the area.

"And if in three towns the chiefs of police are relieved, the provincial commander is also relieved," Lomibao explains. "So that we can put more teeth into it, we made it a one-strike policy. If a raid is positive, the town police chief is readily relieved." Since March, more than 10 chiefs of police have been relieved.

"They are relieved while an investigation is ongoing, focused on whether there is involvement of the chief in the protection of jueteng," he adds.

In a survey last December by Transparency International, the PNP ranked first among the most corrupt institutions in the country. "Of course we felt bad about it," Lomibao admits, "but we also look at it on the positive side. It was a challenge to us to reverse the trend and so we came out with the transformation program. This is what we are now embarking on."

Lomibao insists that the "rotten eggs" represent only a fraction of the total police force. "Very few policemen, not even one percent of the total force of 115,000, have cases that border on lack of discipline or things of that sort," he says. He is optimistic that the program will "turn the tide" for the police force.

The gauge for the success of any transformation can be measured by statistics or by public perception. Getting the figures is easy but perception is another story, Lomibao acknowledges, revealing that a public survey is planned for the end of December.

Economic and political factors play a large part in the PNP’s woes, notably corruption and a glaring deficiency in equipment, police stations and transportation.

To date, the PNP lacks some 500 police stations in the country. In terms of manpower, the current ratio is one policeman per 773 persons when the standard should be one cop for every 500 persons. A whopping 67 percent of police stations lack patrol vehicles and 17 percent of policemen don’t even have pistols.

The PNP works on a P35 million reenacted budget, most of which, Lomibao says, goes to allowances and operations.

"You really cannot stretch the budget and so we are strengthening the institution and the individuals. We tap also into other resources outside of the budget, most of which come from fees collected from firearms licenses, etc," he says. "From this, an average of P50 million is collected and we use this for the repair and construction of police stations." The budget per police station is P3 million.

The transformation program began during Aglipay’s brief term; Lomibao was its chief then. Now Gen. Avelino Razon heads the program. A minimum of 100 police stations in a span of one year is what Lomibao targets to build or rebuild before he retires next July. And these are not just your ordinary police stations and community action centers but "world-class" stations with mission-essential equipment to move, shoot, communicate and investigate. So far, 72 police stations are up and running.

"The physical transformation of the PNP has to be complemented by its spiritual transformation," he says, noting this is more about each policeman looking inward and resolving anew to serve and protect the citizens.

Lomibao’s steady rise in the police force began when this native of Mangaldan, Pangasinan made happen the capture of New People’s Army leader Kumander Dante Buscayno in 1976. A member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1972, Lomibao rose through the ranks, and served as head of the police intelligence group, criminal investigation and detection group and chief of the PNP directorial staff before being appointed to the top post. Although he will serve only a year as PNP chief–mandatory retirement age is 56–this is one official who wants to leave the force as planned rather than stay on in an extended capacity.

"I have a very simple lifestyle and I want to enjoy life," he says. "I like reading but I have no time anymore. I used to play golf."

He gets to watch movies occasionally, with his kids (he also has a daughter, Jhoanda) and his girlfriend, although he admits he dozed off watching "Bewitched." The last film he saw was "Must Love Dogs."

"That time, I didn’t doze off," he laughs.