NEARLY 400 police personnel have been dismissed from the service over the past 26 months in a bid to cleanse the Philippine National Police (PNP) of scalawags, a police official said Wednesday.
Based on the records of the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM), the 398 dismissed cops were among the 1,614 PNP personnel who were meted disciplinary penalties for involvement in administrative cases from 2016-2018 under the PNP Comprehensive Internal Disciplinary Mechanism.
Of the 398, 151 were found positive for drug use while 16 were involved in drug-related activities.
Ninety-one were dismissed for Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL), 10 for kidnapping, 22 for murder, three for rape, six for homicide, 2 for parricide and three for illegal arrest/detention.
Twenty-three more were dismissed for involvement in robbery/extortion, one for graft/malversation and 70 others for grave misconduct that stemmed from immorality, dishonesty and estafa.
“As the father of the organization, my heart bleeds when I sign dismissal orders for delinquent policemen. It’s a tough decision, but it had to be done for the sake of the organization,” said PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa.
Aside from those dismissed, 1,216 other personnel were meted disciplinary penalties from January 2016 until January 2018 ranging from Demotion, Suspension, Reprimand, Restriction, and Salary Forfeiture.
The DPRM also said in 2016, there were 14,515 administrative cases investigated, wherein, 8,422 cases were resolved while there are 6,093 administrative cases which are still pending resolution.
Meantime, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Oscar Albayalde said in the NCRPO alone, 270 police personnel were dismissed while over 800 were suspended over various offenses in which majority were due to their involvement in extortion and illegal drugs.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte described PNP personnel as “corrupt to the core” in which their involvement in illegal activities urged him to order the PNP from joining the war on drugs twice, on January 2017 following the death of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo and on October due to the killing of teenagers Kian Delos Santos and Karl Angelo Arnaiz in Caloocan City.