Internal Affairs Service should be out of PNP to be more effective vs abuses – Sec. Remulla

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) should be placed directly under the control of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to make it more effective in monitoring and probing wrongdoings of policemen.

“’Yung internal affairs unit ng PNP kailangan ilabas sa struktura ng PNP at ilagay sa kamay ng secretary of interior and local government (The internal affairs unit of the PNP should be removed from the PNP structure and placed under the control of the secretary of interior and local government),” Remulla said during an interview over DZBB.

“At tsaka yung personnel movement magkaroon ng say ang DILG (And the DILG should have a say in the personnel movement in the PNP),” he said.

Remulla aired his proposal in response to a query on how to address policemen’s wrongdoings amidst concerns that policemen have been involved in the disappearance of “sabungeros” or cockfight enthusiasts.

In response, Remulla said: “Lahat ng kapulisan sa buong mundo nilalabas nila ang internal affairs sapagkat (all the police organizations in the world have separate internal affairs units because) that’s the only way you can check on the abusers.”

“Pero ang internal affairs office has to be a very strong unit na may sariling budget na hindi po sakop ng Chief PNP (But the internal affairs office has to be a very strong unit that has its own budget separate from the PNP and not under the Chief PNP),” the secretary said.

Also, he said the IAS should also have personnel secretly embedded in every police unit to closely watch the activities of policemen.

“Hindi alam ng tao na merong embedded para sila’y mas madaling makakuha ng ebidensya (People should not know that there are persons embedded so evidence can easily be secured swiftly),” he explained.

Remulla said he has already mentioned his proposal to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Interior Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos Jr. and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.

On “sabungeros,” Remulla said those involved in the disappearance of the ‘sabungeros’ could be charged with violating international humanitarian laws on top of criminal laws in the Philippines.

“The international humanitarian law, the enforced disappearances, might be applicable in some of these cases,” he said.

On the other hand, Remulla said he could not dictate on prosecutors what charges should be filed against those involved in the disappearance of ‘sabungeros.’

“As far as I am concerned. I let the prosecutors do their jobs. They are very professional. They are career people. Mas marunong pa sa akin ‘yan pagdating sa evaluation ng mga kaso (They are more competent than me in the evaluation of cases),” he added.

TAGS: #DOJ #PNP #IAS-PNP #Sabungeros