Deputy Speaker and Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto believes that Filipinos will benefit if the rightsizing policy gets implemented on the national police force for the purpose of deploying more cops on the streets.

Recto, in a statement Monday, Sept. 5, said the Philippine National Police (PNP) plans to “hire, arm and deploy” 14,208 new officers next year.


If the PNP will succeed in hiring that many personnel, “it will be the biggest in years,” the House leader said.


The PNP will have 227,410 men and women in uniform next year, he said, adding that the new hires will bring the police officer-to-population ratio to 1:494. The ideal ratio is 1:500.


Recto backed “the hiring approach of filling all vacant positions first because there is no use in funding the creation of many new positions when these are barely filled within the fiscal year.”


Referring to the 1:494 ratio, Recto noted that this is only "on paper".


"Kasama sa bilang ang mga nasa headquarters at administrative support. Mas mababa ang bilang ng mga pulis na in any given hour ay na naka-duty (The number includes those staying inside the headquarters and administrative support. The number of police who are on duty in any given hour are fewer),” the Batangueño said.


This, he stressed, underscores the need for a “rightsizing exercise” that will free up many police officers from administrative work and deploy them for community policing, on the ground, where they are needed.


The hiring will cost taxpayers P5.18 billion, “in initial salary alone, not including training and equipment,” Recto said.


While index crimes went down during the pandemic, from 43,912 in 2020 to 37,842 in 2021, “there were still 22 rape cases, 14 robbery cases, 14 murder victims a day last year,” the former senator said.