Napolcom eases exam for PNP hopefuls

Because of the disappointing result of last year’s entrance and promotional examination, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) has decided to give police hopefuls and those seeking promotions a glimpse of what next month’s test will be about.

The idea is to give those who want to be policemen and those who want to be elevated to the next higher rank a bigger chance of passing the tests considering that less than 10 percent of those who took the last one in October 2005 passed the same.

Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the Napolcom’s Test Development Committee (NTDC) had requested the publication of the test coverage for both the entrance and promotional examination.

Puno said Napolcom saw the need for the examinees to be informed of the test coverage to determine whether they possess the competencies needed for the position, considering that one who passes the police exam is granted Napolcom eligibility — a basic requirement in the selection of police recruits and in the regular promotion of police officers.

"Napolcom is releasing the Philippine National Police (PNP) test coverage in detail to help prepare and equip the examinees to increase their chances of passing the exams," Puno said.

Napolcom vice chairperson and executive officer Imelda Roces said the PNP entrance examination will cover general information, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and logical reasoning.

On the other hand, the test coverage of the promotional examination will include questions on general information, police administration and operations, and values and ethical standards.

Earlier, Napolcom attributed the poor results to "upgraded standards."

Of the total 39,046 examinees, only 3,815, or 9.77 percent passed the test conducted in October 2005 at designated schools in Metro Manila and 19 other testing centers nationwide.

In the PNP entrance test, a requirement for initial appointment to the rank of Police Officer 1 (PO1), only 1,059, or 4.80 percent, of the 22,042 examinees made it.

Of the 17,004 examinees who took the promotional tests, only 2,756, or 16.20 percent, passed with 1,923 in the Police Officer and 833 in the Senior Police Officer exams.

Then Napolcom chairman Angelo Reyes admitted that the passing percentage rate in that particular batch of examinees was the lowest ever recorded by the commission since the implementation of Republic Act 6975, or the PNP Law.