THE Police Regional Office – Cordillera (PRO-COR) welcomed moves by the House of Representatives modifying the rank classification of uniformed personnel in the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Senior Superintendent Homer Penecilla, PRO-COR operations chief, said the move to modify the ranks of uniformed personnel will help the police coordinate better with other law enforcement agencies in operations against crimes and terrorism.
Last year, the Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill No. 2031, with 18 affirmative votes standardizing how police officers are being called seeking a bill to modify the classification of ranks in the PNP.
Once signed into law by the President, the modified PNP ranking system indicates the Director General to be Police General, the Deputy Director General will now be Police Lieutenant General, the director will be police major general, while chief superintendents will be known as police brigadier general such in the case of PRO-COR director Rolando Nana.
Senior Superintendents will now be known as police colonel, superintendents to be police lieutenant colonels, chief inspectors will be police majors, senior inspectors will be police captains, while inspectors will be Police Lieutenants and so on.
“Experiences both of our policemen and soldiers tell us that unnecessary lags occur when one still finds it necessary to check who his or her counterpart from the police or military is, aside from confusions by the public on the ranks of uniformed policemen,” Penecilla said.
Despite the usage of such terms for the last 20 years, the public have been more accustomed to the use of rank classification using military terminologies such as general, colonel, or sergeant as previously used in the police force.
The adoption of the military rank classification for the police force also promotes a common understanding between and among the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP and would enhance their efficiency in inter-agency operations, Penecilla added.