PNP eyes perpetual ban on cheaters in entrance exams

MANILA, Philippines—Troubled by recurrent cheating in the Philippine National Police entrance exam in Mindanao, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) will come up with a resolution permanently banning cheaters from taking the exam, an official said Tuesday.

Napolcom vice chairman Eduardo Escueta said that through pattern analysis, the agency found out that 387 of those wanting to enter the police force in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and other parts of Mindanao cheated in the April 17, 2011, test.

“And this did not happen only once. Last year, we also discovered a similar incident also in ARMM and in other areas in Mindanao,” Escueta said in an interview.

He said the Napolcom is able to check if a group of examinees cheated through a scientific method carried out by a committee based on the principles of statistics.

He noted that there was an obvious pattern in the correct and wrong answers of the 387 examinees. “They might have copied the answers from their cell phones or from a kodigo,” he said.

Mobile phones or other electronic gadgets are prohibited in the exam premises, he said. “No doubt, they have cheated. It happened mostly in ARMM. You can understand that the area is really prone to cheating,” Escueta said.

He said the examinees’ high percentage of same wrong answers is a strong and clear indication of statistical improbability, which is regarded as prima facie evidence in cheating.

As a result of recurring cheating in Mindanao, he said the commission, which has control and supervision over the Philippine National Police, will amend the existing Napolcom sanction, which bans those who have been found guilty of cheating from taking the exam for three years.

Escueta said in principle, the agency should follow the provisions of the Anti-Cheating Law, or Republic Act 9416, which perpetually disqualifies those who were found to have committed cheating from entering government service.

“It was already a consensus at the en banc to issue a resolution using the same provisions of the Anti-Cheating Law,” he said.

He said the resolution should be out before they release the results of the Oct. 14, 2012, exam.