Philippine National Police officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. (Photo from the Facebook page of the PNP)
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. has ordered all unit commanders to strictly implement the internal cleansing program to get rid of rogue police officers.
He reminded them not to forget to give out “severe punishment” to erring officers.
“‘Wag rin nating kakalimutan na bigyan ng severe punishment, and I’m directing all unit commanders on the ground to strictly implement the internal cleansing. Let us enforce discipline in all ranks. That is what we should be. It is the very thing that is expected from us,” he said during the flag-raising ceremony at Camp Crame, Quezon City.
He noted that discipline “will strengthen” the PNP’s partnership with the communities and private entities.
Danao said it is already a big thing if police officers don’t get involved in any lawless activities and just carry out their duties.
He, however, said that criticisms against the police are mainly from leftist groups who intend to “malign and destroy the image of the PNP.”
“The mere fact na walang madamay, masangkot na kahit sino sa atin sa kaso ay napakalaking bagay na. ‘Wag natin bibigyan ng butas ang ating mga kalaban sa gobyerno. Lalung lalo na ‘yung ating makakaliwang grupo,”’ he said.
(The mere fact that none of us will be involved in cases is a huge thing already. Let’s not give them, especially the enemies of the state, any reason to criticize us. Especially the leftist groups.)
“Kung makikita niyo sa ngayon, kaunting pagkakamali lang ng pulis, binabash nang husto, kahit hindi naman regular na pulis, sinasabing pulis. These are designed to really malign and destroy the image of PNP because they wanted to show oppressiveness among the poor,” Danao added.
He said police shouldn’t let the leftist groups affect them and they should just do the work and “do what is right.”
“Just do your work and perform well and just do what is right and everything will be in order. ‘Wag tayong magpapaapekto sa mga ganitong klaseng organisasyon na patuloy na sumisira at patuloy na naninira sa ating miyembro ng hanay ng mga kapulisan,” he said.
(Let’s not get affected by those who just want to destroy and malign our ranks.)
Danao’s remarks came on the heels of the National Bureau of Investigation’s finding that there was “criminal intent” in the deaths of eight high-profile inmates at New Bilibid Prison and filing murder complaints against 22 police officers from the National Capital Region Police Office.