MANILA, Philippines – He said he would “buckle down to work” on his first day as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Speaking before a crowd of police and government officials, PNP chief Director Ricardo Marquez laid out his priorities as the 20th chief of the 160,000-strong PNP.
It’s going to be a tough 13-month term for the newly-minted 4-star general, who inherits a PNP burdened by the memories of a police operation gone wrong, ridden with factions, but at the same time gearing up for the 2016 presidential elections.
“The more difficult work begins today,” said Marquez in his inauguration speech at Camp Crame on Thursday, July 16.
“Naroroon pa rin ang takot at agam-agam ng mga magulang tuwing umaalis ng bahay ang kanilang mga mahal sa buhay. Ito ang nais nating baguhin. Gusto nating masiguro na bawa’t anak, kapatid, o kasambahay ay ligtas sa kapahamakan at makakabalik nang maayos sa kani-kanilang tahanan.”
– Marquez on criminality and police intervention
CRIME PREVENTION. Marquez wants the police to do less office-based jobs and be more visible on the ground. It’s mostly going back to basics, said the 4-star general: emphasizing police presence, strengthening police community relations, renewing the police force’s commitment to the community, and involving the community in the fight against crime.
Marquez ordered the “immediate and systematic dispersal of personnel from the national, regional and provincial offices to our frontlines” – a continuation of programs set forth by the previous chief of the PNP, suspended, resigned and eventually dismissed police general Alan Purisima.
“While the provisions of the law are indeed harsh, we can bring licensing and registration activities closer to their doorsteps.”
– Marquez on the decentralization of firearms licensing and registration
FIREARMS LAW. The police general also wants firearms licensing and registration streamlined and “decentralized.” It’s a move contrary to that of Purisima, who under his term “centralized” gun registration and shut down the regional offices devoted to licensing.
“Given its resounding success, we shall make Oplan Lambat Sibat the bible in crime fighting operations. We shall cause the thorough and immediate cascading of its major components, concepts and methodologies, and best practices to all units, giving priority to the country’s urban centers which are the most crime-prone.”
– Marquez on crime fighting operations
PUSHING FOR ‘LAMBAT-SIBAT.’ An experimental operational plan that involves the auditing or crime statistics and data-based policing will soon be the standard all around the Philippines. “Oplan Lambat Sibat,” a brainchild of Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, has so far been implemented in the National Capital Region, Region IV-A, and Region III.
The PNP says recorded crime has thus far been cut down dramatically in regions where “Lambat Sibat” in in place.
“As in the past, we will clear drug-affected areas, barangay by barangay until the whole town or city becomes drug-free.”
ANTI-ILLEGAL DRUGS CAMPAIGN. Marquez wants to revive the PNP’s barangay-based anti-drugs campaign.
“More importantly, the PNP will continue to remain non-partisan as it maintains peace and order throughout the election period and strives to keep election-related violence to a minimum.”
A ‘NON-PARTISAN’ PNP. The PNP has a lot on its plate in the next few months: there’s the ongoing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit meetings, which Marquez supervised as chief of the Directorate for Operations, and the coming 2016 presidential elections.
The police general, who will soon be turning over the Directorate to a new chief, will still be overseeing APEC preparations and at the same time, transitioning it to a new police general.
“We will raise the bar for performance and accountability, so that excellence is rewarded and mediocrity receives its just deserts.”
MERITOCRACY. Merit-based promotions, said Marquez, will be the “hallmark of [his] administration.” Marquez said he himself has “meritocracy” to thank for his appointment as the country’s top cop. Unlike Purisima, Marquez has no personal ties to the President.
The new PNP chief also bested another police general with close ties to the President, dismissed police general Raul Petrasanta.
Supposed unfair promotions are a perennial problem in the police force. It’s a virtual battle between officers from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), of which Marquez is a graduate, and the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).
PMAyers, as they call themselves, make up many of the PNP’s top officials – which PNPA alumni resent.
PNP officials from the PMA are reminders of the police force’s military past. The PNP’s predecessors are the Police Constabulary, a former command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Integrated National Police. Some PNP officers are also commissioned through lateral entry.
“Ang masasabi ko sa ating mga kapatid mula sa PNPA at iba pang paaralan, sa ilalim ng pamumuno ko ay makakaasa kayo ng makatarungang pagturing sa usaping ito (To my brothers from the PNPA and other schools, rest assured that under my leadership, I will be just and fair when it comes to promotions),” said Marquez.
Marquez ordered the PNP’s Directorate for Personnel and Records Management to craft the mechanics of a “competency-based selection, placement and promotion system this is suitable, fair and reliable.”
“Sa buong kapulisan, let me make this very very clear: Do your job well and you will be rewarded. If you are threatened or endangered in the line of duty, I will be there for you, walang iwanan. BUT…Betray your oath and violate the law, sisiguraduhin kong may kalalagyan kayo.”
POLICE MISFITS AND SCALAWAGS. Marquez had strong words for police personnel who choose to go astray: clean up your act, or else. The police general ordered an “immediate review” of the force’s disciplinary mechanisms.
Marquez also wants the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS), an office that deals with complaints against and investigations into police personnel’s alleged wrongdoing, “re-ivented.” The IAS has long been an issue within and even outside the PNP.
It is supposedly designed to be headed by someone outside the PNP but is currently led by a police general. – Rappler.com
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