PHILIPPINE National Police Chief Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered an investigation against 10 former police officials reportedly linked to criminal syndicates, directing intelligence and internal affairs units to conduct a comprehensive validation of the allegations.
Nartatez said on Monday, February 23,2026, that he issued the directive after the information was relayed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) leadership.
“As soon as we learned this report, I immediately directed our Intelligence Group and the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group to conduct a deep-dive validation,” the PNP chief said.
In an interview over the weekend, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the 10 former officials were dismissed from the service and have since formed their own criminal group.
Remulla refused to name the officials who held the ranks of major and captain. He said one of them was dismissed due to rape, while another was involved in extortion.
The PNP chief said the investigation would not only focus on the former officials’ current activities but also examine any possible links within the police organization.
“We are not just looking at their current activities but also who their possible connections inside the organization. We will not stop until we identify every tentacle of these groups,” he said.
Nartatez emphasized that former personnel can still pose security risks if they exploit the training and tactical knowledge gained during their service.
“Even if they are already out of the service, they still carry the tactical knowledge they learned here, and that makes them high-risk,” he said.
The PNP is consolidating records of the former officials’ previous administrative cases to determine whether any “protectors” within the organization may have enabled their alleged activities prior to their dismissal.
Beyond the immediate probe, Nartatez also ordered a reassessment of the PNP’s internal monitoring systems to curb corruption that could persist even after an officer’s retirement or separation from service.
He said ethics training and anti-corruption workshops would be strengthened, while early detection mechanisms, particularly in sensitive units, would be tightened as part of the organization’s continuing internal cleansing efforts. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)