PNP to give more teeth to Internal Affairs Service

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Calderon vowed to "give more teeth" to the Internal Affairs Service to strengthen his administration’s resolve in cleansing the organization of scalawags, particularly those involved in criminal activities.

Calderon said additional personnel would be assigned to IAS under Atty. Alexis Canonizado to assist in the investigation of cases against abusive police officers lodged by civilians.

The PNP chief vowed to have a firm stand against scawalag policemen, but assured them of being compassionate in addressing the morale and welfare, particularly housing and other programs that would uplift the living standard of every policeman nationwide.

Calderon is now closely coordinating with the IAS chief to be able to address other concerns.

He said additional personnel to be assigned at IAS would ensure its effective function and immediately resolve cases against erring police officers.

Apart from budget constraints, Canonizado earlier said IAS could not effectively function due to insufficient number of personnel investigating complaints against policemen from different regions.

The IAS was created under Republic Act 8551, which is also known as the PNP Reform and Reorganization Act. The unit is under the general supervision of the PNP chief and assists him in investigative and disciplinary matters, including inspection and audit of PNP units and personnel.

Although directly under the PNP chief, the IAS enjoys functional independence, considering its specific mandate which allows it to conduct pro-active or motu-proprio (of its own accord) investigation, inspection and audit as well as exercise other functions of its own initiative.

IAS local offices at the regional and provincial levels maintain coordinative relationships with their counterpart regional and provincial police offices to ensure smooth implementation of duties and functions.

Calderon assured his men they would be given due process by allowing him or her chance to air their side in cases as he acknowledged the possibility of civilians filing fabricated complaints against a certain police officer in an effort to harass.