Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said Sunday the “ninja cops’’ who faced several Senate inquiries in the past have already been dismissed from the police service.
He assured the public on the continuous and intense internal cleaning being enforced in the police force.
Año noted that there are only a small percentage of rogue police officers in the 200,000 strong Philippine national Police (PNP).
“Minsan nga kahit sa isang pamilya merong lalabas na black sheep. So kailangan tuloy tuloy yung pagbabantay natin sa disiplina, behavior ng ating policemen at hindi natin papayagan yan. (Sometimes even in a family there will come out as a black sheep. So we need to relentlessly pursue discipline and monitor the behavior of the policemen and we will not allow this),’’ Año said.
Año maintained that the goal is to dismiss all the rogue cops and have them rot in jail for being a disgrace to the organization.
With the internal cleansing, Año said that cops involved in the protection of riding in tandem syndicates are reports from the past.
On orders of the President, Año disclosed that motorcycle cops are undergoing specialized training in running after riding-in-tandem groups with the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) taking the lead.
He ordered PNP chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan to submit the specifications of the desired motorcycle and the number of men needed to be included in the specialized units.
“Ito yung mga special units na gagawin namin para maghabol lang ng mga criminals na gumagamit ng motorsiklo, mga nagcacarnap ng motorsiklo, mga nanghoholdap gamit yung motorsiklo (These are the special units that will be created that will go after motorcycle-riding criminals, motorcycle carnappers and hold-uppers using motorcycles),’’ he added.
The DILG chief noted that the strategy is to form a combination of uniformed and non-uniformed policemen “just for that purpose.’’
He noted that the proposed additional purchase of 250 motorcycles is insufficient for the use of the cops in the whole country.
In the PNP budget, Año explained the provision to purchase patrol cars and motorcycles.
But with the President’s order, Año sensed that Duterte will most likely provide additional funds for the immediate procurement of the motorcycles doing away with the circuitous process embedded in the regular budget disbursement.