Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
LEGAZPI CITY — The chief of the Philippine National Police said on Monday that he had dismissed a record number of 260 policemen in one year and vowed to step up his campaign against rogue officers.
Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said the PNP internal “cleansing program” was aimed at developing a mechanism to determine if policemen were committed to performing their mandated task well.
He said the relentless campaign would allow the organization to see “what reforms and changes have been made in the span of 12 months.”
Dela Rosa said the dismissal of 260 officers in the one year he had been PNP chief was unmatched in the service.
“Most of them were sacked due to involvement in illegal drugs. Some were ‘kotong’ (mulcting) cops. I removed their uniform, they don’t deserve it in the first place,” Dela Rosa said.
“I don’t mind if a police station manned by 20 policemen of which only five would remain and all the rest dismissed,” he said.
“What I would like to see is the quality of their work and their commitment rather than quantity with little impact on the service,” he added.
Dela Rosa also urged the police community to collaborate with local leaders in weeding out police scalawags and incorrigibles.
System of deployment
He said he did not mind critics who say that throwing “bad eggs to other areas would not be productive and would only cause another problem in the area.”
“So far, the system of deployment is working,” he said.
“The record is likely on the downtrend,” he added, referring to the reassignment of erring policemen deployed to conflict-wracked regions in the country.
According to Dela Rosa, the system of police reassignment is a reformatory process wherein a bad policeman would disrupt his momentum of wrongdoing.
Dela Rosa on Monday led the turnover rites at Camp General Simeon Ola here where Chief Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe received his mandatory retirement order.
Buenafe, a native of Naga City, is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sinagtala Class of 1986.
Buenafe was replaced by his “mistah” (batchmate), Chief Supt. Antonio Gardiola Jr., also from Naga City and the former head of the National Highway Patrol Group.
Dela Rosa, in his keynote speech, said that the region was lucky to have Bicolano police officials running the PNP regional office. “This has been a long practice in succession where Bicolanos are at the helm.”