Napolcom aims to clear case backlog in bid to reduce erring cops
Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame. File photo.
MANILA, Philippines — The National Police Commission (Napolcom) aims to clear its backlog of cases against erring cops by the end of 2025 in a continued bid to cleanse the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Napolcom Vice Chairperson Rafael Calinisan set this goal at a press conference on Friday at the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) office in Quezon City.
“There’s a backlog in Napolcom. There are rather a lot of cases there. The cases pending are around a thousand,” Calinisan said in Filipino.
He also said the agency has yet to complete its inventory of cases.
“We’ll clean those all up. Our instruction is to get our backlog to zero, all cases, by December 2025. It’s not acceptable nor permissible that cases in Napolcom are slow. The people won’t trust it,” he added.
The how
Recently appointed as the Napolcom vice chairperson, Calinisan said the agency’s ambition was for a case to run from the filing of a complaint to a decision within 60 to 90 days.
“Coming from a 10-year, 15-year, 18-year, 20-year backlog, I think it’s not bad,” he said.
READ: Rafael Calinisan named Napolcom vice chairperson, executive officer
When asked about what specific steps he had in mind to achieve this goal, Calinisan said Napolcom was looking to hire more lawyers, set deadlines, and hold lawyers accountable for delays in cases.
“What’s needed, what’s most important, is political will. It’s just a matter of planning and discipline. The most important word, if ever, is accountability, not just for those being sued but also those handling those cases,” he said in Filipino.
‘Not isolated incidents’
Calinisan’s statements came in response to a question about a recent string of police officers being relieved from their posts for alleged misconduct.
“I’m extremely saddened by this, bordering on anger. These are not isolated incidents. Those who say they’re isolated incidents are lying. These are not isolated. There needs to be a change in the current setup of the Philippine National Police,” he said in Filipino.
READ: 3 Valenzuela cops nabbed for alleged robbery-extortion, 15 more sacked
The most recent incident involved three Valenzuela City cops allegedly demanding P100,000 in exchange for not filing a complaint against the complainant’s housemaid. It led to the relief of 15 of the city police officers on Thursday.
READ: Relieved QCPD exec faces criminal rap for releasing detainee from jail
Another incident involved the chief of the Quezon City police investigation section and two of his subordinates allegedly freeing a detainee to allow her to meet up with relatives at a hotel for the Holy Week.
The three Quezon City police officers were relieved last April.
READ: More stringent recruitment, ‘integrity education’ for cops eyed
In response to cases of erring cops earlier in the year, Calinisan suggested making the application requirements to be a police officer more stringent./mcm
