Independent IAS, annual tests for PNP officers eyed
MOVES to strengthen the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) and take it out of the Philippine National Police received support from several quarters at a Senate hearing Tuesday, including the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Civil Service Commission and Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a former PNP chief.
Presiding over a hearing on Senate Bill 514 on “PNP revitalization,” De la Rosa however, acknowledged reservations over the proposed localized application of the National Police Clearance System (NPCS).
He cited the automated verification of records is already existing in the PNP crime-related data base that also collects and stores digital fingerprint, as well as its improved process of criminal records checking.
De la Rosa, however, added, “we will also make sure that the national clearing house of criminal records will still be maintained by the National Bureau of Investigation.”
He clarified the Senate bill “will not allow the PNP to take over but allow integration,” acknowledging that “NBI clearances were tested over the years [and] required by other countries.”
Taking out the IAS from the PNP had long been advocated by some quarters, bothered by the restrictive condition of the unit under the head of an organization it is supposed to be a watchdog for.
At Tuesday’s hearing, proposals floated included putting the IAS under the National Police Commission (Napolcom), or under the Department of the Interior and Local Government, since the DILG secretary has oversight powers over the PNP.
Annual tests
THIS developed as the Senate lined up for committee consideration other police reform measures, including the proposed PNP Modernization Act, Strengthening the Internal Affairs Service, Mandatory Annual Psychiatric, Psychological, Drug and Physical Tests for police officers.
Sen. Imee Marcos advocated the annual conduct of psychiatric, psychological, drug and physical tests for all police officers, saying such sustained monitoring of the physical and mental health of policemen could help prevent many cases of abuse, the latest of which was the cold-blooded shooting by a Parañaque policeman of a mother and her son in Tarlac.
Senate Bill 2005 filed by Marcos requires the annual conduct of random psychiatric, psychological, drug and physical tests for the police.
According to Marcos, in the present setup, police officers only undergo such tests when they are being recruited or are seeking entry to the PNP; or applying for a promotion; or are directed by a supervisor to have a random test.
Marcos said lessons should be drawn from the case of police senior master sergeant Jonel Nuezca, who shot dead two people in Tarlac in December.
It was learned that Nuezca had faced six administrative cases for grave misconduct and homicide, and shunned taking a drug test.
Marcos said that while the Tarlac shooting may be deemed an isolated case, the PNP must still guarantee the psychiatric and psychological fitness of its members.
The Marcos bill also makes mandatory the stress debriefing for policemen who have been tapped for operations that entailed traumatic conditions.
Overweight cops are also a no-no. The bill requires that any variance from the standard weight suited for a policeman’s height, age and gender should not go beyond 5 kilos.