Arroyo announces revamping of PNP

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced a revamp of the Philippine National Police (PNP) following recent investigations implicating top PNP officials of having been involved in the activities of crime syndicates.

The PNP revamp is among a series of peace-and-order measures designed to eliminate the problems of kidnapping, smuggling, and to prevent the possibility of the country evolving into a "narco-state."

The President made the announcement during Saturday's National Consultative Conference on Peace, Order in Manila.

The issue of illegal drugs was a "drastic problem that requires drastic measures," said Arroyo. She said the campaign against criminal gangs would be a "fight to the finish."

Apart from the PNP revamp, she also proposed to the legislature an amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act which aims to impose harsher penalties and to make possession of a much smaller quantity of a prohibited substance a criminal offence.

"This would reduce the distinction between drug user and drug pusher," Arroyo explained. She said this was based on a study showing that most users eventually become pushers to support their drug habit.

"I will not allow the Philippines to become a narco-state where drug lords lord it over the country, driving fear into the heart of our people and eroding the moral fiber of our nation," she said.

Earlier, testimonies given by a former police agent and current PNP officials before the Senate exposed a vast network set up by Chinese drug syndicates in the local bureaucracy providing protection to criminals and allowing dealers of banned substances to operate with impunity.

Former agent Mary Ong uncovered the involvement of top police officials attached to the PNP Narcotics Command (Narcom) in drug deals with the Hong Kong Triads, while Narcom's Chief Supt. Reynaldo Acop revealed well-entrenched protectors of the Chinese gangs in five major government agencies.

The revelations prompted concerned PNP officials to ask Arroyo to seek the courtesy resignation of all police generals to allow her to make a thorough cleanup of the police institution.

A manifesto which claims to have been circulated by "officers of the PNP Corps" said it was one thing for ranking officers to be named protectors of "nefarious activities" like illegal gambling "but for officers at the highest level to be associated with the illegal trade of drug organisations is... not acceptable and beyond comprehension. "It is time for a serious purging of our ranks," the group said.

The President, however, said she would be more cautious with the revamp while noting the possibility of a "sinister" attempt to divide the PNP.