Eleazar: No more ‘palakasan, padrino’ system in PNP recruitment

MANILA, Philippines — “Padrino system”—or gaining favor through family affiliation and friendship instead of merit—shall be out of the picture in the recruitment of the Philippine National Police (PNP), its newly-installed chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said Friday.

This was the first matter Eleazar tackled in his first speech as the PNP chief, saying that “only the best” should make it to the police force.

“Walang palakasan… Ngayon pa lang, humihingi na ako ng pasensya sa mga gustong makiusap, sa mga kasamahan natin sa PNP, sa mga retired senior police officer, sa aking mga kamag-anak at kaibigan. Pasensyahan na po, tatablahin ko kayo,” Eleazar said.

(No more patronage system… As early as now, I apologize to those who want to ask favor, to my colleagues in the PNP, to the retired senior police officers, to my relatives and friends. I’m sorry, I’ll have to resist you.)

“Tinutuwid na po natin ang  kultura ng palakasan at padrino system sa recruitment na nagsilbing hadlang para makapasok ang iba pang mga qualified na aplikante. Bukas na bukas ang pintuan ng aming organisasyon para sa inyo,” he added.

(We are correcting the culture of patronage and backer system in the recruitment, which became a hindrance to other qualified applicants to enter [the PNP]. Our door is open for you.)

Eleazar said he is aware of how those who have “strong backers” are favored over the others—even as early as the recruitment stage.

In response to this, Eleazar said as early as 2019, back when he was the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), he implemented reforms in the recruitment system through quick response (QR) codes for applicants.

“Walang pangalan, walang mukha [No names, no faces.] . Only their qualifications will be the basis for their evaluation,” Eleazar said.

“Our commander in chief, President Rodrigo Duterte has a marching order to continue the aggressive internal cleansing in the PNP. That is why we will implement QR code system in all the phases of our recruitment process, nationwide so we can get the best qualified applicants for PNP,” he added.

Eleazar replaced outgoing Police Major General Debold Sinas who is retiring on May 8, Saturday.

Prior to being the PNP chief, Eleazar served as deputy chief for administration of the police force and led the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, which implements quarantine rules and protocols.

He also served as chief of the NCRPO.

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