PNP to review reorg plan over Duterte’s bid to revive PC

PNP spokersperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos. Photo by Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

THE Philippine National Police will revisit its plan to reorganize the police force after President Duterte said he wants to revive the Philippine Constabulary (PC) amid the government’s war on drugs and terrorism.

“The PNP will review our proposed reorganization and modernization plan and see how it will fit the strategic and long-term plans of the organization. We will submit a more detailed comment after the review and guidance of the PNP leadership,” PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos said on Thursday.

While it is the PNP’s “long-term plan” to comply with Republic Act No. 8551 or the PNP Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998 putting the organization under the supervision of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Carlos said the PNP will study its current structure to see if it would be advisable to merge the police with the military force.

“It’s a long-term plan of the PNP to comply with the creation of R.A. 8551 and the modernization so titingan natin kung ito ay tutugma and then we will wait for the decision of the leadership to that particular proposal,” he added.

READ: Duterte eyes revival of Philippine Constabulary

During his visit to the headquarters of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division in Mawab, Compostela Valley last Tuesday, Duterte said he wants to reestablish the defunct PC to augment the troops in its fight against terrorism, drugs and criminality.

The PC was the first of the four service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. During the leadership of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the PC was merged with the Integrated National Police. The PNP was later formed on January 29, 1991.

The PC was abolished by President Corazon Aquino due to alleged abuses during the Marcos regime. But Duterte said reviving the PC could help in fighting urban terrorism.