PNP to police chiefs: Better shape up

Philippine National Police mass oath-taking. File photo courtesy of PNP on Facebook.

MANILA — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Alan Purisima, warned all police commanders to perform their job well in anti-crime operations, or risked being booted out of their posts.

Purisima gave the warning during the command conference on Monday.

In the same command conference, Purisima also ordered a review of the performance of all police units during the first three months of the year.

This, amid incidents of high-profile cases that include killing of racer Enzo Pastor and hotel and casino chains owner Richard King.

“We have to further enhance our individual and unit capability as part of our overall anti-crime campaign,” said Purisima.

Purisima ordered intensified 24/7 mobile checkpoints that “should be felt by the people we have sworn to protect” in support of the overall anti-crime campaign

“All police stations must have their own capability to handle or process minor crime incidents in order to lessen the burden on Scene of the Crime Operation units of the higher city, provincial or regional offices,” he added.

In order to meet the ideal police to population ratio, Purisima also instructed the concerned Directorial Staff and NSUs to fast track processing of applications to fill-up 18,568 vacancies for Police Officer and 13,000 positions for Non-Uniformed Personnel as authorized by the National Police Commission.

He underscored continued implementation of the Special Counter-insurgency Unit Training (SCOUT) program as a minimum mandatory training requirement to enhance individual fighting skills to increase survivability in combat situations against insurgents and threat groups.

To achieve maximum effect of the PNP counter-insurgency campaign, the Chief PNP, directed Regional Directors to keep the local insurgents off-balance by initiating sustained security operations by Regional Public Safety Battalions and Provincial Public Safety Companies as required by the Directorate for Operations.

During the same conference, the Chief PNP directed concerned PNP units and Offices to look into the concerns of some police retirees on the PNP pension system even as he assured that the PNP is doing everything possible to iron-out all issues raised by the retired sector.

In support of anti-criminality operations, the Chief PNP reiterated earlier instructions to intensify Oplan Katok operations “to let the people feel that we are dead serious” in our campaign to rid society of illegal firearms and instruments of crime.