EDITORIAL - Different skills

From its creation out of the defunct Philippine Constabulary and Integrated National Police, the Philippine National Police has been under the control of military officers. The most notorious human rights violators of the PC-Metropolitan Command became cops.  Starting with the first PNP chief, who was charged with corruption, until the current one who served as bodyguard of President Aquino when his mother was in power, the supposedly civilian national police has been led by graduates of the Philippine Military Academy.

This state of affairs cannot possibly be because the original cops, whose skills and training are different from the military, are too stupid and incompetent to head their own organization. Most cops are graduates of criminology, a regular college course where they learn forensics, scientific criminal investigation and other skills needed for effective law enforcement. The police officer corps is trained in the PNP Academy.

The 1987 Constitution provides for a civilian national police force. But the absorption of military and constabulary officers into the civilian police service was designed to accommodate the sector that was bloated and coddled by Ferdinand Marcos to enforce his military-backed dictatorship. This sector launched coup attempts that ruined economic recovery efforts after the Marcos dictatorship collapsed. PMA alumni in both the military and PNP have also been indicted in all the major corruption scandals mostly involving supply procurement in the two organizations.

Police work requires different skills and training from the military. Now, with the last batches of PMA alumni soon to leave the PNP as prescribed under the law that created the national police, the “PMAyers” are reportedly pushing to retain their hold on two organizations. In addition to the PNP, the PMA alumni reportedly want control over the Philippine Coast Guard. For a while PMA alumni also caused demoralization in the foreign service, with a slew of retired military officers getting political appointments as ambassadors and easing out career diplomats.

If cops trained as cops, particularly those who rose through the ranks on merit, will continue to play second fiddle to people trained for external defense, the PNP should just be placed under the Department of National Defense. What is needed is to improve the skills of the military for its tasks, and the police for police work. Both organizations are not lacking in efficient and dedicated officers with the training required for the job. The cream should be allowed to rise to the top.