No Mindanao posting, just ‘retraining’ for 387 cops with pending cases

Close to 400 Metro Manila policemen facing criminal or administrative complaints will undergo “disciplinary retraining” instead of being sent to Mindanao, according to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

From July 1, 2016, to Jan. 30, or the first six months of the Duterte administration, the NCRPO has reassigned 79 personnel to the South. It has also dismissed 46 officers, suspended 63 and demoted four during the same period.

On Saturday, the NCRPO said Director Oscar Albayalde, the regional chief, ordered 387 officers to undergo retraining in Camp Crame. These officers are currently reporting to holding units either at the regional headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, or at their respective districts.

They face complaints ranging from extortion, reselling illegal drugs recovered in police operations, to absenteeism or reporting for work only on payday.

No pay

The NCRPO Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division is currently handling the case of 373 officers facing criminal complaints, while the Discipline Law and Order Section is reviewing 897 administrative cases.

Chief Insp. Kimberly Molitas, NCRPO public information officer, said 387 officers would not receive their salaries and allowances for the duration of their training, whose schedules would be determined by the Directorate for Human Recourse and Doctrine Development of the Philippine National Police.

PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa earlier ordered an internal cleansing of the force following the killing of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo allegedly by police officers inside Crame.

Senate President Koko Pimentel, whose family hails from Mindanao, and Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have called on the PNP to stop its practice of reassigning erring policemen to the southern region as punishment, saying it deserves honest and disciplined lawmen like the rest of the country.