DISCIPLINE and service are the characteristics instilled to the 173 police recruits who have graduated and completed the six months Public Safety Field Training Program (PSFTP) at the Regional Training Center (RTC)-Northern Mindanao, Patag, this city, Friday, February 24.
Following the graduation exercise at the RTC-10 parade grounds, the new pool of policemen belonging to Class BANSILAG 2016-02 (Bagong Angkan ng Samahan Inilaan Liwanag at Gabay) were turned over to the Regional Special Training Unit (RSTU) of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Northern Mindanao to undergo field training exercise for another six months.
The 173 new policemen composed of 163 males and 10 females have passed the recruitment process at the PRO-Northern Mindanao last July 2016.
Dr. Ricardo De Leon, President of the Philippine Public Safety College (PSC), said that parallel internal cleansing process of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was integrated in the program to focus not only competence but character building among the new police law enforcers.
"Nagbigay tayo ng guidelines sa ating mga regional directors that we will complement the efforts ng PNP sa police internal cleansing," De Leon said.
De Leon emphasized that disciplined strong person and service oriented cops are the keys to building strong community partnership in carrying out the mandate of the PNP.
De Leon said obedience, orderliness, humility and respect are the four components of discipline which are all incorporated in the 6-month academic based program.
"One year dapat ang recruitment training pero hinati natin six months sa PPSC for academic basic recruit training and 6 months OJT sa RSTU sa PRO-10,"De Leon said.
Moreover, De Leon said the police graduates should maintain the service oriented values and uphold the organization's motto 'to serve and to protect' while safeguarding the rule of law and respect for human rights.
De Leon said the new policemen were equipped on how to engage with the community in development and progress.
De Leon believed that once the values of discipline and service are maintained, the police can resist the temptations of employing the old culture and practice of policing, negatively branded by the public.
De Leon urged public participation and cooperation to achieve harmonious partnership between the police and the community.
"Community approach ito. The community should give feedback and suggest solutions," De Leon said.
"Ang challenge natin dito is that training is not enough. There must be transformation of the institution at magkaroon ng self-reflection. Tanggapin na may problema so that we can correct it," De Leon added.
De Leon said the community plays a role in supervising the performance of the police instead of tolerating misdemeanors.