Philippines: Nearly 1,000 cops dismissed in on-going purge of unlawful activity

Manila: In a campaign to root out wrongdoing within the Philippine National Police (PNP), a staggering 935 police officers have been removed from their roles this year so far, according to official data.

These dismissals come as a result of their alleged involvement in various illegal activities and infractions during their tenure. The dismissals cover the period from January 2022 to August 2023.

Col. Jean Fajardo, the Head of the PNP Public Information Office, revealed that some of these offences included involvement by the dismissed officers in illegal drugs, robbery, theft, extortion, homicide, and kidnapping.

3,097 more cases under investigation

The PNP is currently investigating an additional 3,097 cases as part of their commitment to upholding the integrity and credibility of their mission to safeguard and serve the public.

Fajardo stressed that those who were discharged had been found guilty of these serious offences through the investigative process.

Internal disciplinary mechanism

“We will not let go of this, we will make sure that all personnel who committed grave offence will be dismissed,” Fajardo pointed out.

“This is to prove that the internal disciplinary mechanism, whether misdemeanour or grave offences, like extortion or even illegal uses of drugs will not be tolerated, thus appropriate cases have to be imposed against them,” she explained.

However, erring police who were eventually cleared will still face administrative cases with equivalent penalty, which includes dismissal from the service, depending on the gravity of the offence.

Currently, the PNP has approximately 230,000 personnel to police a population in excess of 100 million.

About half of the police force in the country have been subjected to drug testing this year as the PNP heightens its internal cleansing drive, a key official said.

City police chief dismissed

On August 30, 2023,  the chief of police of Mandaluyong City (one of the constituent cities of Metro Manila) was relieved from his post after testing positive for illegal drugs.

Col. Cesar Gerente yielded positive results during a random drug test with top officials, along with other commanders and chiefs of different offices and support units on August 24, the Philippine News Agency reported.

Following the incident, the NCRPO ordered all 497 personnel of the Mandaluyong City Police Station to submit to a random drug test on Aug. 28, all of whom tested negative.

279 dismissed from July to December 2022

A total of 279 erring police officers have been dismissed from the service from July to December 2022, PNP data showed.

The PNP chief said then that the figure was among the 1,211 PNP personnel meted with various sanctions during that period.