Manila: A perceived rise in crimes involving policemen has prompted Congress to conduct an inquiry on a police branch tasked with investigating police officers.

Representative Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental’s third legislative district said a probe he had called into the performance of the Philippine National Police-Internal Affairs Division (PNP-IAS) could shed light on why a number of its members are involved in high-profile crimes.

“Amid the growing crimes committed by some members of the police force, it is high time that we take a critical look at the efficiency of the PNP-IAS and also assess if there are necessary policy adjustments to sustain the realisation of the law’s primordial intention, which is to maintain a highly efficient and competent police force,” Benitez said.

In recent years, a number of police officers — across all ranks — have been apprehended for their involvement in high profile crimes.

Their participation and roles have ranged from actual carrying out of criminal acts — such as the case of 12 policemen involved in a robbery along the EDSA Highway in Mandaluyong City — to institutional corruption such as that concerning the 2009 and 2010 acquisition of police helicopters that also implicated former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband, Mike Arroyo.

Benitez said such presence of rogue officers in the national police force would not have been possible had the PNP’s internal affairs branch been doing its job.

The PNP-IAS supposedly serves as the force’s watchdog. Aside from the PNP-IAS, other bodies monitoring the police force are the Peoples’ Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) and the institutional National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM).

Benitez said through House Resolution 1495, which he submitted recently, an inquiry would be conducted on the performance of the PNP IAS. The positive effects from this, he said, would ultimately lead to a better PNP that would have more integrity.

The call for a probe into the body tasked with improving the performance of the PNP also comes after Interior Secretary Mar Roxas last week ordered a lifestyle check on all police officials, including top brass.

“All policemen would be subject to an impartial probe into their lifestyles,” Roxas said.

This was after PNP Director-General Allan Purisma was accused by the Coalition of Filipino Consumers (CFC) of using his close association with President Benigno Aquino III to amass wealth.

Purisima, who has served as top aide to Aquino, allegedly owned a multi-million peso vacation house in Nueva Ecija. The property’s actual value, according to an investigative report by Ted Failon of ABS-CBN, was hidden in his statement of assets and liabilities.

By law, all appointed government executives and elected officials are required to declare their personal assets.

Aquino had previously defended Purisima against allegations of corruption.

Purisima’s close association with Aquino dates back to the time when the police official served as a security aide to Aquino’s mother, Corazon C. Aquino, who was president during the late 1980s.