PNP marks 117th Service Anniversary
As the Philippine Na-tional Police marks its 117th Anniversary this year, police officers in the country are ex-pected to adhere to the Con-stitution and rule of law. Senior Supt. Benigno Du-rana, PNP spokesperson, told Palawan News that this year's anniversary emphasizes their "neutrality and allegiance as an enforcement organization to the Constitution, the Phil-ippine flag, and Filipino peo-ple." Durana said they will al-ways uphold the Constitution and ensure that every order they obey is in accordance to the established rule of law. "That is well ingrained in our values and principles, that we are an apolitical (po-litically neutral) organization, and that [is where] our loyal-ty resides. There's no ques-tion about our loyalty to the constitution, klaro `yan. lf it is an illegal order, an outright illegal order, definitely we will not do that, and definitely, if that official is responsible, he will not give illegal orders." Durana said Durana noted that the Constitution is a "clear and specific document that is readily accessible to the gen-eral public." Being faithful to the con-stitution is what the law re-quires of them he said add-ing that "Filipinos, including those higher authorities above them, expect the PNP to be loyal to the Philippine Constitution." Most of the police of-ficers in the Philippines, are willing to do what is right and are being faithful to their oath, he said. "Ang sinumpaan namin we'll die for ialay namin ang aming buhay nga, the only profession that our lives can be put at stake, para sa kapa-kanan ng ating mga mama-mayan. May mga tiwaling pulis din naman talaga, pero mangilan-ngilan 'yon, but the majority, they are faithful to their oath and to what is ex-pected of them based on the law," Durana said. in Puerto Princesa City, the city police marked the celebration on Monday with a pledge to follow the Consti-tution and fight corruption, crime, and illegal drugs. Senior Insp. Pearl Manyll Lamban Marzo, PPCP0 spoke-soerson said this year's cel-ebration has a theme "Pag-babago sa Hanay ng Pulisya, Hatid ay Ligtas na Pamayanan Laban sa Korupsiyon, Krimen at Iligal na Droga." Marzo said the anniver-sary focuses on adherence to the Constitution. The Constitution is not "a common discourse" in police stations in the city and oth-er parts of the country, they want to let the public know that they regard it highly and respects it, she said. "Since hindi naman siya (Philippine Constitution) Igaanong) nata-tackle dahil tayo ginagawa lamang natin 'yong ating trabaho, ginaga-wa natin 'yong ating tung-kulin. Ngunit kung ano man ang tama, ano man ang nasa batas, 'yan ang ating pinapa-tupad at sinusunod," Marzo said. Marzo said the celebra-tion also aims to generate change in the police force "by upholding their integrity, demolishing corruption, and eliminating crime and illegal drugs." We trust the national headquarters to "filter" all the orders and directives, in-cluding the statements of the president, before sending the command to them, she also said.