Cops nationwide brace for surprise inspections

Cops around the country should brace for surprise inspections as part of the incoming Philippine National Police (PNP) chief’s mission to instill discipline among his men.

“Yes we will do that (nationwide surprise inspection) if we really can,” said Director Oscar Albay-

alde who is set to take the reins of the PNP this month. “Although what I will do, as I won’t be able to do it personally now, I will put the responsibility to the commanders on the ground,” he said.

As National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, Albayalde is known for surprise inspections of police precincts in Metro Manila in the wee hours of the night to catch cops sleeping on the job or engaged in drinking binges.

His inspections resulted in the sacking of several police officers and the creation of “red teams” or spot up inspection teams at the national level of the PNP as a strategy to improve police vigilance and diligence on the job.

Address EJKs Meanwhile, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara expressed hope that the PNP will begin regaining its positive image tainted by supposed extrajudicial killings and also promote and uphold human rights under Albayalde’s new leadership.

“Albayalde’s leadership should give higher priority to the promotion and protection of human rights,” Angara said over the weekend.

The PNP should “fulfill its mandate of enforcing the law, preventing and controlling crimes, maintaining peace and order, and ensuring public safety and internal security with human rights in mind,” he stressed.

Angara said he hopes Albayalde would address extrajudicial killings that are linked to the government’s war on drugs, which human rights activists claim has resulted in the 12,000 drug suspects since July 2016.

This death toll has been disputed by the PNP, which also claims that the deaths were a result of encounters with armed suspects in legitimate police operations.

Drug testing For his part, Albayalde believes the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country is tied to narco-politics and urged voters to be wiser in choosing their local leaders in next month’s barangay elctions.

The NCRPO director and incoming PNP Chief said he wants voters to demand a voluntary drug test from all the candidates for the barangay elections.

Both the decision of the candidates to yield to the drug test challenge and its result should serve as one of the criteria for voting the candidates from barangay chairman down to village council members (kagawad), he said.

“If I were a candidate for barangay elections, I would volunteer for a drug test if I am not hiding anything,” said Albayalde.

Albayalde confirmed that the PNP is still validating the names of some incumbent barangay officials who are included in the narco-list.

“We are continuously validating that list and on the part of the voters, I think they should also be educated on who among the candidates, either in the barangay or national level, they should vote for,” said Albayalde, referring to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls on May 14. (With reports from Hannah L. Torregoza and Aaron B. Recuenco)