CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The National Police Commission (Napolcom) here said yesterday that an average of 120 cases against erring policemen in Central Luzon are elevated for summary hearing yearly.
This, even as Napolcom regional director Manuel Pontanal said that about 1,000 cops in Central Luzon would either have to go or be promoted by next year, amid the policy for them to earn promotion at least once in 10 years or face expulsion.
“Most of the cases against policemen which are validated by Napolcom involve grave misconduct, such as extortion, physical abuse and violations of operational procedures,” Pontanal disclosed.
Pontanal said he has issued stern warnings particularly against policemen whose drug cases are dismissed by the courts because of their failure to attend hearings. “This is dereliction of duty that merits 12 years in jail,” he stressed.
He noted that any policeman who could not attend such court hearing due to conflict of schedule could readily notify the court before the hearing.
At the same time, Pontanal said that some 1,000 of about 10,467 cops in Central Luzon could be “attrited” or removed by next year, should they not be able to fulfill requirements needed for their promotion.
He said the 1,000 cops have not been promoted within the required maximum period of 10 years arising from lack of requirements, such as civil service eligibility and schooling among other requisites.
Pontanal lamented that while the ideal ratio is about one policeman per 500 population (1:500), the ratio in Central Luzon has remained 1:700.
He said that Napolcom has continued with its regular and “attrition” recruitment for the regional police force at the rate of about 9,000 annually, but lamented that the gap in ratio between police and population could not be breached due to population growth.
“Those recruited for attrition are those who would fill in the vacancies left by those who have left the service for various reasons, while the regular recruits are new ones meant to bridge the gap in the police-population ratio,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Pontanal also said that the Napolcom is prepared to help and monitor the police force in performing their roles in the coming May elections. “We have enough Comelec guidelines to draw the line between what the police should do in relation to the polls and what they should not do,” he noted.
