Reforming the PNP

General Raul M. Bacalzo took over as Philippine National Police chief right after the Luneta grandstand hostage-taking incident of August 23, 2010. “That was probably the lowest point in the PNP’s history since the ’90s, as it involved a dismissed police officer and even led to a diplomatic row with China,” he told this columnist.

“This incident severely tested our capability to respond to an emergency situation, and we were found wanting. And the PNP suffered a beating in terms of public perception, and the institution as a whole was very demoralized. As PNP chief, I had to reverse the public perception that we were incompetent and ineffective. Slowly but steadily, we picked up the pieces, starting with the retraining of our SWAT and Special Action Forces. I can say that today, our people regard the PNP with respect despite the fact that now and then we still have rogues in uniform who give the institution a bad name.”

But he is quite happy with his accomplishments as PNP chief. “Yes, I am satisfied with what I have accomplished as PNP chief. As far as I am concerned, being able to restore the people’s faith and confidence in their police force has been my main achievement.”

Proof of his making the right moves is the latest Pulse Asia survey result which gave him a 39 percent approval rating, with essentially the same public approval rating as Ex-ecutive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. and National Economic and Development Authority Director General Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr. and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, each with 43 percent. The same Pulse Asia survey showed that 60 percent of Filipinos believe that the PNP has been successful in fighting criminality.

During the past months, the PNP managed to bring down crime incidence. In the first six months of the year, a total of 129,888 crime incidents were reported, 40,538 or 23.79 percent lower than the crime volume of 170,426 for the same period in 2010.

Of the total crime volume, 82,520 or 63.53 percent are index crimes while 47,368 are non-index crimes. Of the total index crimes, 16,562 were solved, for a 20.07 percent Index Crime Solution Efficiency (CSE), while 25,338 were cleared out of the index crime volume or 30.71 percent Index Crime Clearance Efficiency (ICCE). The average monthly crime rate (AMCR) for the first semester 2011 was 22.46 which is 25.36 percent lower than the same period in 2010 recorded at 30.09.

“I expect the downtrend in crime incidence to continue as I have instructed all police stations and units nationwide to be always on the alert against both street or petty crimes and organized crime.

“We have been going hammer and tongs after organized crime. There were only three kidnap-for-ransom incidents during the first semester of this year as compared to 11 in-cidents in the same period in 2010. Two were solved while one is still under investigation.”

As to carnapping incidents, Bacalzo said the Highway Patrol Group reported a reduction by 56 percent from January to June 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.

One remembers that when Bacalzo learned of his appointment, his immediate reaction was, “Grabe! Para akong tumama sa jueteng!” But quickly, he had the police force gang up on jueteng operators.

And they went after anti-illegal drug operators. By far they conducted a total of 10,243 anti-illegal drugs operations which resulted in the arrest of 11,652 persons, the disman-tling of nine drug laboratories and chemical warehouses, and the filing of 10,792 cases in court. The PNP’s anti-illegal drugs campaign is five-pronged: supply reduction, de-mand reduction, legal offensive, internal cleansing and regional/international cooperation.

Operational capability has made significant headway in the administrative aspect of police work. There is now a transparent procurement system. Observers from COA, DILG, Napolcom, PNP Press Corps and civic/religious groups sit in all stages of the procurement process.

The PNP has also put various fiscal reforms in place. Funds from the DBM have been decentralized and now go directly to police regional offices while  bonuses of the PNP personnel have been raised from P7,000 to P10,000. Combat pay has been increased, from P320 to P500. Financial claims of active PNP personnel are paid in full and updated on a monthly basis. Benefits due to retirees and beneficiaries have been updated, so that PNP retirees now get what’s due them on their very day of retirement.

Also implemented are key personnel reforms, among them the modification of the recruitment process to give extra premium to the applicant’s intellectual, mental, emotion and psychological fitness and preparedness for police service.

Bacalzo said, apart from back to the basics training for all city/municipal police stations, the Zero Case Backlog Program has been pursued. The remaining 1,175 pending ad-ministrative cases as of Nov. 30, 2010 were finally resolved on Feb. 7, 2011. Between Dec. 1, 2010 to June 15, 2011, a total of 2,059 cases were received, of which 1,387 have been resolved, leaving a total of 672 cases pending. From December 2010 to June 15 this year, a total of 160 personnel have been dismissed from the service, 64 demoted, 435 suspended, 56 reprimanded, 10 forfeited salary, 10 restricted to quarters. This, said Bacalzo, will “tell you that we do not tolerate wrongdoing or outright criminal activities by the few bad eggs who engage in extortion or abuse their authority as law enforcers.”O

‘While we have been relentless in going after criminals and terrorists, we also emphasize the importance of respect for human rights by everyone in the institution,”

His tour of duty as PNP Chief, he said, has given him “the opportunity to reform the PNP.” In fact, his doing this during the last few months he considers as “the most chal-lenging task” in his entire career. The long-term Integrated Transformation Program, he said, is aimed at making the PNP more capable, effective and credible. This is a com-prehensive program that includes training and retraining, upgrading of equipment and logistics. It also covers values formation and enhancing police morale and welfare through better salaries and more benefits, housing, and health services.

The chief, 55, looks forward to his retirement next month. He intends to take a long vacation to be with his family who are in the US — his wife, a registered nurse, three sons who are all nurses, and a daughter. He’s interested in doing volunteer work, perhaps for the Red Cross or with NGOs helping children with life-threatening diseases like cancer.

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