After skipping honor’s night: No graduation for policemen

CEBU, Philippines - A total of 192 policemen out of 338 who enrolled in the Public Safety Junior Leadership Course face not being promoted after they were not allowed to graduate on Friday morning at the Regional Training School-7 in Barangay Jugan, Consolacion town.

Their offense? Grave misconduct. Their actions?  Having failed to attend the “Honor’s Night” on Thursday afternoon.

A policeman who was supposed to be part of the Public Safety Junior Leadership Course Class of 2015, and who requested anonymity, said he cannot understand how he felt when the announcement was made.

He added that he felt humiliated after learning that they were not allowed to graduate after they were not able to attend the “Honor’s Night” on Thursday afternoon.

He said he felt as if he had just wasted many days of listening to the discussions and nights doing research.

The Public Safety Junior Leadership Course is mandatory for policemen with the rank of Police Office 3 before they could apply for promotion to the rank of Senior Police Officer 1.

He said that on Thursday morning they were at RTS-7 for the rehearsal of the graduation but in the afternoon he skipped Honor’s Night because he was trying to find money to pay for graduation expenses which are shouldered by the trainees and not the school.

He said that he did not know why the others also skipped the event, but he suspected that they did it for the same thing.

On the day of the graduation all of the trainees were present but suddenly it was announced that the 192 absent during Honor’s Night would not graduate.

“Luoy kaayo sir kay ang uban intawn gikan pa nagkuha sa ilang pamilya naa gani to’y amahan sa polis kimpang intawn unya pag-abot ngadto didto pa sila kahibalo nga di diay ka-graduate ilang anak,” he said.

“Unfair kaayo sa among part, gihukman na mi nga dili mi ka-graduate nga walay due process,” he added.

Hope for some

Superintendent Edwelito Rosales, RTS-7 director, told The FREEMAN the trainees did not know that they were not allowed to graduate because the announcement was made on graduation day itself.

He said Honor’s Night was an important part of the course and that what the trainees did in skipping the event was a “class 1 offense” tantamount to grave misconduct, based on their training manual.

However, the trainee argued that based on the same manual a police trainee is allowed 90 demerits before he or she gets a harsh penalty and that missing Honor’s Night was only worth 15 demerits.

 He also said the RTS-7 board decided on too harsh a penalty without giving due process.

But Rosales said the decision is not yet final because the board required the police trainees to submit a written explanation why they failed to attend Honor’s Night. If the board finds the excuse valid they will be allowed to graduate from the course.

“For instance yung hindi sila naka-attend kung court duty sila o na-hospital sila iko-consider rin naman natin,” Rosales said.

He, however, did not say if separate rites will be held for those whose reasons are found valid.

Rosales added this was the first time in the history of the RTS-7 that more than half the class was not allowed to graduate.

“First time na nangyari sa buong training… na hindi dapat i-forgo,” he added.

The result of the deliberation is expected to be out by 8 a.m. today and notices were given to the 192 trainees to appear at the RTS-7 headquarters for the final verdict.

Humiliating

A relative of one of the police trainees complained that what RTS-7 did to the trainees was inhuman.

She said had she known that the police trainees would not be allowed to graduate on that day she and her family would not have taken the time and spent the money to go there.

She said she went to the training school upon invitation of the police trainee because the trainees were told by the RTS administration to bring their family members to witness the graduation rites. But she said she only went there to witness the humiliation of their family members. — /BRP (FREEMAN)