‘Internal cleansing’ in PNP an internal, secret affair

By Malou Mangahas,
and Vino Lucero,
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

(Last of two parts)

At the PNP National Headquarters, there are only 40 multi-skilled SOCO personnel performing multiple tasks under the PNP’s Crime Laboratory Office. They include:

• Team Leaders, 12 personnel
• Photographers, 2
• Fingerprint Identification Examiners/Technicians, 8
• Firearms Identification Examiners, 9
• Chemists, 4
• DNA Specialists,1
• Medico-Legal Officers, 4

Skeletal SOCO

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has just a handful of skeletal SOCO teams, even as the largest number of drug deaths has been recorded in Metro Manila.

The Northern Police District-Crime Laboratory Office has two five-person SOCO Teams at its Caloocan City headquarters. Too, there are two three-person teams and two more two-person teams assigned to its satellite offices in Caloocan City and Valenzuela City.

The Manila Police District-Crime Laboratory Office has three SOCO teams with four members each, and three officers working for all the three teams.

The Southern Police District-Crime Laboratory Office has three four-person SOCO teams, one other with three members, and a “Reserved Team” with five members.

The Eastern Police District-Crime Laboratory office has only two SOCO teams —

one with five members, and the other with six.

The IAS, for its part, is no better than SOCO when it comes to its available pairs of hands.

By rank, the 175 IAS’s commissioned officers include:

• Police Director, None
• Chief Superintendent, 5 persons
• Senior Superintendent, 15
• Superintendent, 66
• Chief Inspector, 48
• Senior Inspector, 12
• Inspector, 29

The non-commissioned officers of the IAS include:

• Senior Police Officer 4, 156 personnel
• SPO3, 31
• SPO2, 142
• SPO1, 50
• PO3, 21
• PO2, 6
• PO1, 0

Independent IAS?

Just how capable the IAS and Soco are in regard to their tasks of investigating erring cops and erroneous deeds of cops is a concern that lingers, partly because of their slim teams. Yet another concern, however, is how independent they are – especially the IAS – of the very agency whose members they are scrutinizing.

Republic Act No. 8551 or “The PNP Reform and Reorganization Act of 19983  created the Internal Affairs Service to serve “a truly independent and impartial body, manned by God-centered and professional officers.” Its mandate in law is “to instill police discipline, enhance the delivery of police service, and dispense service.”

On July 26, 2016, Sen. Grace Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 70 (attached) on July 26, 2016 to press compliance with RA No. 8551’s provision that a civilian should head IAS.

Section 40 of the law, approved Feb. 25, 1998, says: “National, regional, and provincial offices of the Internal Affairs shall be established. Internal Affairs Service shall be headed by an Inspector General who shall be assisted by a Deputy Inspector General. The area offices shall be headed by a Director while the provincial offices shall be headed by a Superintendent: Provided, That the head of the Internal Affairs Service shall be a civilian who shall meet the qualification requirements provided herein.”

But that has yet to happen. Even today, a PNP officer, Chief Supt. Leo Angelo Leuterio, heads IAS.

PNP for status quo

Pressed by Poe at a recent Senate hearing why the PNP has not designated a civilian head at IAS, PNP chief de la Rosa replied: “As of now, I find it necessary to maintain a police officer as the head of the IAS because a lot of police officers and senior police officers are involved in illegal drug trade. If I put a civilian head in the IAS, madaling i-threaten ang civilian, baka hindi makalaban sa pulis na scalawag.”

He added that in his mind, “I find it necessary to maintain that a police officer as head of IAS, he is capable to thwart any threat offered by these scalawag police officers.”

Presidents before Duterte had not complied as well with the law, de la Rosa noted. “’Yung nakaraang administrasyon hindi nila pinalitan ng sibilyan ang IAS head,” he said. “Kaya umaasa kami, we remain hopeful that in this new administration, it will be [as] such.”

Beyond the IAS’s domain, however, many more police officers remain respondents in graft and other criminal complaints pending before the Sandiganbayan.

In 2013, 2014, and 2015, a total of 1,265, 1,258, and 1,315 cases were filed against officers of the PNP, respectively, according to data from the Office of the Ombudsman.

The PNP in fact accounts for the second highest number of cases before the Ombudsman during each of the same three years, next only to local government units. (With research and reporting by Karol Ilagan, PCIJ)