Cordillera PNP boots out 3 cops in internal cleansing

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- A total of three police officers in the Cordillera region were dismissed from the service for various administrative charges in 2018, an official of the Philippine National Police-Internal Affairs Service Cordillera (IAS-CAR) said Wednesday.

“Yung pagwi-weed out natin ng pasaway is a form of help sa matitinong pulis kasi nadadamay din pangalan ng matitinong pulis sa mga pasaway (Weeding out the organization of ‘scalawags’ is a form of help to the good ones because good police officers are affected by the bad eggs),” IAS-CAR Regional Director Senior Supt. Jimmy Catanes told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

A police officer previously assigned in Benguet and the two in Ifugao were dismissed from PNP service in the first half of 2018, after they were found guilty of grave offenses.

Catanes said cleansing the PNP of errant police personnel will benefit the whole organization and the country.

Aside from three dismissed police officers, eight other policemen were suspended.

Catanes said there are 16 recommendations forwarded to the Disciplinary Authority awaiting decision.

He said IAS-CAR received 29 administrative cases -- ranging from a simple case of sleeping on the job to grave misconduct cases -- from January to December 2018.

He said police operations with deaths are moto proprio (on its own) investigated by the IAS.

The decisions of the IAS are transmitted to the Regional Director of the PNP, who makes the final recommendation as to whether to carry the recommended penalty or revise the recommendation, he added.

In the latter part of 2018, several policemen were accused of sleeping on their post when personnel of the IAS conducted spot inspection in the different police stations.

“So far we can see the effect of what we did to the mainstream which is for internal discipline and internal cleansing,” Catanes said.

He assured policemen that the IAS thoroughly probes a complaint and does not penalize the police officer without due process.

“We always get the side of the police, it's always both sides," the police official said.

As much as possible, Catanes said they try to instill discipline on errant police officers via lighter penalties such as suspension or admonition.

 “Pero kung matigas talaga ang ulo, hinihiwalay na talaga sa serbisyo (But if they're hard-headed, they are dismissed from the service)," Catanes said. -- PNA