PNP uses work of ex-police execs to toughen internal cleansing

MANILA, Philippines — The efforts of former officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were not fruitless after all as those are now being used to intensify the internal cleansing program of the state’s law enforcement organization.

PNP deputy spokesperson Lt. Col. Kimberly Molitas said Friday that their predecessors’ initiatives – from as far as five years ago – to unmask police scalawags have served as a basis for the current administration to pursue and prosecute corrupt police officers.

On Thursday, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director Benjamin Magalong faced a Senate panel investigating anomalies in the Bureau of Corrections and New Bilibid Prison, including the existence of illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary.

During his testimony, Magalong revealed some connivance between police officers and convicted drug lords in the Bilibid that allowed the continuation of the criminals’ illegal drug dealings.

READ: Magalong: Cops, convicted drug lords recycle ‘bato’

“Pertaining to those statements made, I think we are thankful for the testimonies made by our former police officers. We have to remember that Magalong was CIDG director five years ago pa, and from them on it was a different government at that time,” said Molitas during a press briefing at Camp Crame, Quezon City, on Friday.

“‘Yun ang take natin doon (That is our take on that); that five years ago there were officers who have been working very hard to be able to look at this problem on illegal drugs, and when the new government came in, there is this information that has been gathered by our former police officers which they use to now strongly implement our war against illegal drugs. That’s how we see it,” she said.

She then assured that operations against crooked police officers continue.

And to show that the PNP is indeed serious in its efforts to rid its ranks of scoundrels, Molitas said the PNP even institutionalized the former Counter Intelligence Task Force (CITF) into becoming the new Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG). IMEG runs after rogue cops as part of PNP’s internal cleansing. /kga