Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Sunday said he is confident Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar can successfully introduce reforms and cleanse the Philippine National Police (PNP) even for just a short period of time.
Eleazar, who is now the new PNP chief, should focus on making the internal disciplinary mechanism of the PNP work to rid the institution of scalawags or rouge cops.
“Dapat i-address dyan sa PNP eh yung tungkol sa displina. Kasi palagi naman nating naririnig, kahit gaano kaganda ang layunin, meron nagkakamali, nang-aabuso, Yun ang nagde-define ng husto, tuloy nadadamay ang buong ahensya (The PNP should focus on discipline. Because we always hear how despite the best intentions, there are cops who make mistake, abusing their authority and defining the institution, and affects the whole agency),” said Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief.
“So yan dapat ang tutukan ni Gen. Eleazar, yung internal disciplinary mechanism ng PNP, dapat gagana ng husto (So Gen. Eleazar should focus on that. The PNP’s internal disciplinary mechanism should work),” he said.
Dela Rosa pointed out that even though Eleazar has only six months to serve as PNP chief, he can effectively lead the organization.
“It’s not how long you lead, but it is how you lead the organization. Kahit umabot ka pa ng dalawa or tatlong taon diyan sa PNP chief pero wala ka naman ginagawa na reporma, wala rin mangyayari (Even if you serve for two to three years as PNP chief but are not able to introduce reforms, nothing will happen),” he said.
“But if you are there for two or three months pero disidido ka na mag-implement ng iyong hangarin na gustong malinis ang (But you're eager to implement programs to cleanse the) PNP, it matters a lot,” the senator stressed.
“Malaking impact yan kung gagawin niya, lalo na kung six months. Kung talagang maiimplenta niya ang kanyang magagandang hangarin (That would be a huge impact, especially in the span of six months, if he is really bent on implementing his noble goal),” the lawmaker added.
Eleazar, upon being sworn-in as the new PNP chief, vowed to launch an internal cleansing policy inside the PNP to repaint the tarnished reputation of the country’s police force.
The new PNP chief, in his first speech at the change of command ceremony, said he intends to use Quick Response (QR) codes to weed out “palakasan” or backer system within the institution.