40 cops dismissed in PNP purge

CAMP RAFAEL C. RODRIGUEZ, Butuan City — The regional command of Northeastern Mindanao Police Regional Office 13 (PRO 13) has dismissed 40 police officers for various offenses on its continuing purge of the police force of rogues and scalawags.

“Yes, our internal cleansing process is the command’s continuing program, especially those bad cops or scalawags,” said PRO 13 Regional Director Chief Supt. Rolando B. Felix, in an exclusive interview with The Manila Bulletin yesterday.

The police officers were dismissed since January, 2016 up to February, 2017, he said.

He said the dismissed non-commissioned police officers were holding ranks from Senior Police Officers 4 and Police Officers 1.

Twenty-two of them were dismissed in relation to R.A. 9165 otherwise known the Dangerous Drug Act while the 18 other police officers were dismissed for various offenses such as going absent without leave, grave threats, misconduct and alarm scandal, he said.

The police officers were given due process through the Internal Affairs Service (IAS), the National Police Commission (Napolcom), or the People’s Law Enforcement Board before the higher command dismissed them, he said.

“The regional command of PRO 13 is committed to clear the force of scalawags up to the lower level and our PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is very much serious about this,” Chief Supt. Felix added.

He also emphasized that cops who are found to be protecting and engaging in illegal drugs and other criminal acts have no place in the PRO 13 command.