MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Raul Bacalzo said the PNP has started retraining police officers in investigation to prevent lapses in evidence gathering.
Slips in police investigation are believed to have led to the acquittal of suspects in the 1991 Vizconde massacre case.
Under his three-month-old administration, Bacalzo said the PNP has started holding case management courses for commissioned and non-commissioned officers.
“Some police investigators have very insufficient training in investigation. Ideally, every policeman is a competent investigator,” Bacalzo said during a meeting with editors of The Star last Wednesday night.
The Supreme Court has dismissed for lack of evidence charges of rape with three counts of homicide against Hubert Webb and six others in the massacre of Estrellita Vizconde, and her two daughters, Jennifer, 6, and Carmela, 18 on June 30, 1991.
Police investigators arrested two batches of wrong suspects, causing the case to be transferred to the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Another incident resulting from bungled police operation was the hostage incident at the Luneta Grandstand last Aug. 23 where eight Hong Kong tourists were killed.
Bacalzo said under the present training set up, officers with the rank of Police Officer 1 are only given a one-day lecture on investigation and are then sent to the field for actual investigation.
“The training is not enough to make our police officers competent investigators,” he said.
Bacalzo, who served as chief of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM), said the PNP is establishing a school for investigation. The three-month case management course will have eight classes with 50 students each class. Two police officers have completed the course.