PNP chief Marquez challenged to meet public’s expectations

Among the challenges the new Philippine National Police chief Director General Ricardo Marquez is facing is “living up to the expectations” after he was applauded for his promises to clean up the ranks within the police force to regain the trust of the public to the PNP.

In his first week as the country’s top cop, Marquez said he still has apprehensions on whether he could live up to the expectations of the people “in such a short time.” Marquez will retire on August 28, 2016.

It only dawned on Marquez that he’s pressured to prove himself when he saw positive feedbacks on social media after delivering his assumption speech last Thursday.

“Honestly, may mga pangamba pa rin ako. Hindi ko kasi ineexpect na magkakaroon ng ganung kagandang feedback sa social media speech ko which heightens the expectation of the public. So last Monday, I immediately buckled down to work,” Marquez said in a press conference at Camp Crame on Wednesday.

What is the Chief doing to meet the public’s expectations? “One of the approaches is what you called setting a target date and a timeline,” he said, adding he couldn’t leave the headquarters at Camp Crame as he had started putting up a “new system” in the PNP.

Marquez had promised to weed out police misfits and scalawags amid the rising number of policemen involved in illegal activities. To earn back the public trust to the police, he vowed to fix the basic policing programs of the PNP by deploying more policemen on the streets.

To strengthen the campaign against crimes involving rogue cops, Marquez said he wants the PNP Internal Affairs Service to be “more relevant” by making sure that cases of erring policemen are being attended to.

Marquez said there were cases which date back to 2007 that are still unresolved. “That is unacceptable,” he said.

“Every week, we should check if there are administrative efforts that were exerted. So when the time comes that we have to select an official for a position, we could consult easily to the database,” he said.

He said the IAS should have a weekly assessment like the concept of the PNP’s anti-crime program “Oplan Lambat-Sibat.”