PNP restructuring bill up for Marcos’ signature

MANILA, Philippines — The bill on the reorganization of the Philippine National Police (PNP)  now only needs President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s signature to become a law after  the House of Representatives ratified a committee report containing the final version of the bill.

During the latter part of the session on Tuesday, the bicameral conference committee report on the disagreeing provisions of House Bill (HB) No. 8327 and Senate Bill (SB) No. 2249 on the restructuring of PNP was ratified via viva voce or voice voting.

After the House has ratified the bicam report, the final copy of the bill would only have to be forwarded to Malacañang for the President’s signature.

The Senate ratified the bicam report on Monday.

During the Senate’s session on Monday, Senator Ronald dela Rosa — a former PNP chief — said that the bicam panel agreed to use the Senate version of the bill as the working draft.

Dela Rosa also noted that the following issues were threshed out by the bicam panel:

• As part of the mandate of the Philippine National Police Academy, the PNPA shall recruit cadets from all provinces in the country
• To maximize the technical expertise of PNP officers who joined the service through lateral entry, technical officers shall be authorized to be assigned to positions related to their technical expertise outside of the office or unit where they were accepted
• Coinciding with the National Women’s Month celebration, the National Administrative Support Unit Women and Children Protection Group shall be headed by a female director with the rank of Police Brigadier General

Aside from these, the bill seeks to increase the PNP chief’s control in the administration, operation, and oversight of the police force by proposing the implementation of a directorial staff system.

It likewise aligns the compulsory age of retirement for the PNP with that of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), setting it at 57 years old.