Weaknesses of PNP to be assessed

The Philippines and its main security ally, the United States, launched a three-week-long assessment of the weaknesses of the poorly-regarded Philippine National Police (PNP) force, the US embassy said Tuesday.

The study was being undertaken to "identify key institutional weaknesses and to formulate a blueprint on how to resolve them," the embassy said in a statement.

US specialists in anti-narcotics, counter-terrorism, immigration and customs enforcement will take part in the program, the embassy said.

Senior officials from the Philippines’ 115,000-strong police force will represent Manila in the assessment, said PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil.

National police chief Arturo Lomibao said the program would cover the reputation of corruption and abuse that have long tainted the image of the Philippine police.

As part of its assessment of the PNP’s organization, operations and training, the delegation will visit several key provinces including the southern Basilan island, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim kidnapping group linked to al-Qaeda, the US embassy said.

The assessment will help to improve the police force in fighting such transnational threats as terrorism, narcotics trafficking and people smuggling, it said.

The Philippines is one of the United States’ staunchest allies in Asia in its "war on terrorism" but the Philippine National Police has suffered serious embarrassments in capturing and holding onto militants.

In July 2003, Indonesian bomb expert Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, a senior leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah extremist network, escaped from a cell in the national police headquarters in Manila. He was killed months later at a police checkpoint in Mindanao. — AFP, Cecille Suerte Felipe