One of the four applicants tested positive for COVID-19.
“Honesty is one of the requirements in joining the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP),” Police Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, PRO-BARMM director, said Friday, June 11.
Ugale said the four applicants, whose names were withheld for security reasons, and their two civilian cohorts, identified as Jalal Adiong and Abdullah Oga, were criminally charged and referred before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office for falsification of public documents and violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 11332 or the Law on Reporting Communicable Diseases.
He said based on the investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-BARMM Thursday, June 10, 66 police applicants submitted questionable RT-PCR results.
“Upon further verification and validation, four out of the 66 applicants came out to have submitted spurious RT-PCR results,” he said. “Investigation also showed that (the) four applicants did not undergo swab tests and were given RT-PCR results by the two civilian cohorts for a fee.” Ugale said three of the four applicants have been arrested and are in the custodial facility of the CIDG while the fourth applicant who tested positive for COVID-19 was admitted to the Parang District Hospital quarantine facility in Parang, Maguindanao.
He noted that the aggressive reform in the PNP recruitment system is a long-term internal cleansing measure initiated by PNP chief Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar under the intensified cleanliness policy when he assumed the top police post on May 8.
The move targets to demolish the culture of corruption and the “padrino(godfather) system” in the PNP recruitment system.
Informed of the disqualification and filing of charges against the four, Eleazar lauded the PRO-BARMM for a “job well done.” More than 17,000 policemen across the country are set to be recruited this year.