PNP urged to stop reassigning rogue cops to Mindanao

Mindanao should not be a favored dumping ground for erring policemen, Senate Pres. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel said Tuesday. (Photo by Albert Calvelo [Public domain])

Pimentel, who hails from Cagayan de Oro City, made this call amid intensified efforts of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to cleanse the police ranks.

Dela Rosa earlier vowed to focus on cleansing the ranks following several complaints of police abuses related to the campaign against illegal drugs under the Duterte administration.

He urged the PNP chief to stop the practice of re-assigning erring policemen to Mindanao stressing that “the South is deserving of honest and disciplined lawmen like the rest of the country.”

Moreover, he stressed that transferring them will merely transfer the problem and not solve it.

“Mindanao should be treated by the PNP with the same respect that all Filipinos deserve regardless of their faith, their culture, and their economic status,” Pimentel said.

“Give Mindanao the best men in uniform. Mindanao deserves nothing less,” he added.

Pimentel meanwhile told Dela Rosa to instead file administrative cases against the rogue cops so that they could be expelled from the PNP or send them back to the Police Academy for re-education and re-orientation of values.

The Senate President further said that cops who mask criminal activity with legitimate operations should immediately be prosecuted.