MANILA, Philippines – The country’s top cop wants the recruitment of new personnel to be the job of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the PNP alone.

In a statement, PNP chief Director General Purisima pointed out that “there are too many handlers for applicants.” It’s this decentralized recruitment system, he said, that encourages a culture of “palakasan” and corruption among its most junior members.

Currently, applicants are handled through various channels – the PNP’s regional offices, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and for those aspiring commissioned ranks, the Public Safety College and the Philippine National Police Academy.

“Those who shouldn’t [be cops], are taken in. Thus the applicant has embedded in his head that this is the system here, this is the culture here: to each his own money-making ways,” said Purisma.

The PNP is in hot water for a string of crimes allegedly masterminded and executed by its own men. The most high-profile among the crimes is an alleged EDSA robbery and kidnapping case involving at least 9 current cops and 1 dismissed officer.

Purisima, who has been chief of the PNP since December 2012, said the PNP has had to deal with recruits who “did not even know what to do throughout the day in their respective beats.” As a result, cops had to do through another round of training under the PNP.

“If these men had properly been schooled and trained in our own PNP School, they would have been activated at once and the State would not have wasted time and taxpayers’ money re-training or re-orienting them, just so they know what to do and where to begin,” said the PNP chief.

Improving recruitment

Purisima is pushing for all “recruitment, academics and training” of the PNP to be directly under the PNP. This would entail the PNP opening its own school to train rank and file personnel, as well as officers. (READ: Cops in EDSA ‘kidnap’ charged for same modus in 2011)

“There will be more controls but within one organization alone,” said Purisima. (READ: Purisima denies sitting on admin cases vs rogue cops)

In an earlier interview with Rappler, Napolcom Vice Chairman Eduardo Escueta said recruitment seemed to be a huge weakness in the PNP.

“Ang isang nakita namin dito ay kailangang higpitan ang recruitment process kasi para bang itong mga pumapasok sa police force ay hindi dumaan sa isang masusing pagsusuri ng kanilang neuropsychiatric profile,” he said. (Q and A: Getting rid of the PNP’s scalawags)

(One thing we’ve identified is the need to be stricter with our recruitment process because it seems those who get in didn’t go through the proper neuropsychiatric profile tests.)

But that isn’t the only recruitment issue that the PNP, Napolcom and other agencies have to deal with – year in and year out, the police force has been unable to meet its yearly recruitment quota. It’s a problem when the PNP wants to increase the 150,000-strong police force in order to hit a 1:500 police-to-population ratio.

During a budget hearing before the House of Representatives, Purisima said the PNP wants to open an office dedicated solely for recruitment.

Purisima said the PNP and the Interior and Local Government are now lobbying Congress for this.

Various groups have called on President Benigno Aquino III to sack Purisima, who is on his 2nd year as chief of the PNP. But Aquino has since defended Purisima.

Purisima and Aquino go a long way. The PNP chief was once the aide of the late President Corazon Aquino, mother of the current president. During his stint in the Presidential Security Group, Purisima was tasked to guard the young Benigno Aquino III. – Rappler.com