The Philippine National Police (PNP) will have more generals in the future as part of the restructuring of the organization amid the increasing number of police officers, a top police official said.
For a start, there will be five more three-star generals as the heads of the five Directorates for Integrated Police Operations (DIPOs)—Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Eastern Mindanao and Western Mindanao— will now be a three-star post, or the rank of Police Lieutenant General.
Currently, there are only three three-star ranks in the PNP, being held by the three other most senior members of the PNP Command Group: the Deputy Chief for Administration, the Deputy Chief for Operations and the Chief Directorial Staff. The Chief PNP is a four-star rank.
PNP chief Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan said the move is part of the strengthened DIPOs which will be tasked to focus on anti-insurgency and anti-terrorism operations across the country.
“Your DIPOs now are so strong that they will also supervise the regions in the anti-criminality. This is in support of the effort to end the local insurgency problem in the country,” said Cascolan.
The DIPOs were created to facilitate the strong coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), particularly the five major areas of command which are the Northern Luzon Command, Southern Luzon Command, Central Command, Eastern Mindanao Command and the Western Mindanao Command. The AFPs’ five major areas of command are headed by three-star military generals.
Cascolan said there is a need to restructure the police organization for effective administrative and operational functions.
He stated that the AFP for instance, has only 120,000 uniformed personnel in August 2019 but has 191 generals.
The PNP, on the other hand, has 192,000 uniformed personnel in August 2019 but it has only 146 generals. The PNP has a current authorized strength of 220,000.
“The reorganization and restructuring are important to create more positions, more promotions for incoming colonels and generals,” said Cascolan.
The PNP has stepped up its recruitment efforts in the past years in order to meet the international standard of having one policeman for every 500 people.