MANILA – Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Director General Oscar Albayalde vowed to be relentless in cracking down on erring policemen, from those protecting illegal activities down to those committing minor infractions such as not wearing helmets when riding motorcycles.
“This is not just about big illegal acts. Even those not wearing helmets or committing even minor offenses will be looked into. Ito ‘yung mga maliliit na bagay. Ang tanong naman natin kung maliit na bagay ito, bakit hindi magawa ng ating kapulisan (The question, is if these are just simple rules, why can’t our policemen follow them),” said Albayalde.
Aside from illegal protection rackets on illegal drugs, transport terminals and gambling, the new PNP chief said he will ask the PNP Intelligence Group to beef up its gathering of information on rogue cops through obtaining records of those who are guilty of habitual minor infractions.
“Why do we require people to wear helmets if we cannot require policemen to wear them,” Albayalde said.
Albayalde, who once rode a motorcycle all the way to Baguio City to attend an alumni event of the Philippine Military Academy, shrugged off criticism from motorcyclists claiming to be profiled to be flagged down in police checkpoints.
The new PNP chief has justified the strategy, citing reports of motorcycle-riding gunmen and motorcyclists riding without licenses.
Albayalde, who replaced Director General Ronald dela Rosa, said policemen assigned to the PNP’s over 2,000 precincts throughout the country and who refuse to act on a complaint for the lack of gasoline or an investigator to handle the case will also be investigated.
“These are the things that the CI (counterintelligence) operatives would have to report to us, those who are rude to complainants. The complainant is asking for a spot report or blotter copy but they can’t get one because there is no investigator in charge. These are the things we want to change and improve on. If somebody tells us that one complainant came to a station and our policemen told him/her that there is no gasoline, investigator or chief police, they will be sacked and we will investigate on them with suspension being the minimum sanction. We promise you that as a way to reform our police on the ground,” said Albayalde.
The new PNP chief also said he wanted to face the people behind a social media page claiming to be representing policemen and who supposedly oppose his appointment as PNP chief.
“Ang gusto nga natin (what we want is) not only the misguided souls but also the attitude change, it’s the culture change. When we give public service, it should be fast and swift,” said Albayalde. (PNA)
