{"id":242007,"date":"2020-01-12T13:57:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T18:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=242007"},"modified":"2020-01-12T13:57:32","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T18:57:32","slug":"ano-vows-to-continue-going-after-police-scalawags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/01\/12\/ano-vows-to-continue-going-after-police-scalawags\/","title":{"rendered":"A\u00f1o vows to continue going after police \u2018scalawags\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Interior Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o on Friday (Oct. 11, 2019) (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o on Sunday vowed to continue going after police \u201cscalawags\u201d involved in corrupt activities and narcotics trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will make sure the scalawags in the PNP (Philippine National Police) organization are weed out. We will continue to do until the last scalawag is out. It is very important to get the trust and confidence of the public and we can only do so if we get rid of rotten eggs,\u201d A\u00f1o told Philippine News Agency (PNA) when sought for a comment after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered him to \u201cfirst cleanse\u201d the PNP before appointing a new head.<\/p>\n

A\u00f1o said the PNP is \u201creally doing good\u201d in its campaign against illegal drugs and criminality.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, may kaunting sumisira ng imahe at ito ang tatanggalin natin (there are some destroying the image and we will eradicate them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Duterte has tasked A\u00f1o to supervise the PNP while Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa stays as PNP officer-in-charge.<\/p>\n

The Chief Executive was confident that A\u00f1o could help him cleanse the police force.<\/p>\n

He also assured that rogue cops accused of being involved in corruption and illegal drugs would be given due process.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, A\u00f1o said he wants the PNP to pick only the best and brightest applicants to fill the police force’s 17,000 vacancies.<\/p>\n

He said the PNP should ensure a stringent recruitment and hiring process where those who are not mentally and physically fit for the PNP are weeded out, and only the \u201cvery best\u201d will be chosen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cleansing program should already begin in the hiring. It will save the police organization from a lot of headaches later on if we do the hiring and recruitment process properly and seriously,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Stressing their salaries have been doubled by Duterte, A\u00f1o said aspiring police officers should have excellent capabilities and the heart for public service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe days of \u2018mahina utak nito, magpulis ka na lang\u2019 (you are unintelligent so you should just become a police officer) is over. We want the best in our law enforcement agencies,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

A\u00f1o also warned ranking officials not to use the “bata-bata” (pets) system or there will be sanctions meted out to offenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuwag ninyong pansinin kung may backer man na mataas na opisyal o kaya bata-bata ng mga nakakataas. Kahit sino pa ang kamag-anak o kakilala ng magpupulis, kung hindi naman siya qualified, hindi siya dapat maging pulis (Don’t mind those who have ties with ranking officials or pets of those who are in position. Even if they are relatives of anyone in the police force, if they are not qualified, they cannot become police officers),\u201d he assured.<\/p>\n

The process should be transparent from day one in all stages of the recruitment process to prevent any irregularities, he added.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of PNP Directorial Staff, echoed A\u00f1o as he aims to eliminate the \u201cpalakasan\u201d system in the course of the recruitment and selection process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalang padri-padrino, walang palakasan (No backers. No favorites). Only those who are the best and most deserving among the qualified applicants will be accepted,\u201d Eleazar told PNA when also sought for comment.<\/p>\n

Eleazar also thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for the robust number of applicants, giving the PNP the luxury of choosing high quality police recruits.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a policeman today has become a noble and attractive profession because our President elevated the status of this career by upgrading policemen’s salaries. Today, one has to be deserving to be a policeman,” Eleazar said.<\/p>\n

He added the President’s directive to get rid of police narco cops and scalawags, as pursued by the PNP chief, is also bringing back the luster and prestige of this profession.<\/p>\n

The National Police Commission and the Department of Budget and Management have authorized the PNP to fill up 17,000 vacancies under its recruitment program for the year 2020.<\/p>\n

These vacancies comprise the 10,000 annual regular recruitment quota and 7,000 additional quota to replace retired, deceased, dismissed, AWOL (absent without leave), and other separated personnel.<\/p>\n

The successful candidates will be appointed to the initial rank of Police Patrolman with a gross monthly salary of PHP29,668, with other mandated allowances and benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o on Sunday vowed to continue going after police …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":234224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242009,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242007\/revisions\/242009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}