The Philippine National Police (PNP) is supporting the proposal to remove the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) from its organization structure in a bid to make it more independent in the conduct of investigation against errant policemen.
PNP chief Gen. Rodofol Azurin., Jr. said making the IAS independent would make it more effective and would remove all doubts that all of its decisions are tainted with allegations of cover-up.
"In fairness, IAS has been doing its job but unfortunately, it is under the PNP so there is always this doubt that some cases are not being investigated properly so it's really high time that we study the creation of IAS," said Azurin.
He was reacting to the statement of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla that IAS must be removed from the structure of the PNP organization and should be at least under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in order for it to properly and credibly investigate rogue policemen.
The current set up
IAS has a motu proprio investigation power on all operations that resulted in the injury and and death of both the policemen and civilians, particularly the crime suspects that PNP personnel are running after.
The investigation usually focuses on whether or not any police operation followed the Police Operational Procedures.
While it enjoys a semblance of independence from the PNP to which it is part of, the results of all its investigations are recommendatory in nature.
This means that its decisions to punish or dismiss errant policemen have no teeth as they must still be approved by the sitting Police Regional director or the Chief PNP--who also have the power to reverse the recommendations.
Initial reforms
IAS used to be headed by a two-star ranking police official but over the years, reforms were conducted to make it more independent by appointing a civilian to head it. The IAS is currently headed by lawyer Alfegar Triambulo.
Azurin himself confirmed that being assigned to the IAS is a big problem to the regular PNP personnel as they will surely face difficulty going back to the mainstream PNP once they are assigned to the IAS.
"I was with DPRM (Directorate for Police Records and Management) and once you join IAS, you will be completely detached with the PNP," said Azurin.
PNP personnel who joined IAS should have termination (as regular PNP personnel) so they can also have their own policies, their own activities, their own programs and independence in investigating any misgivings or shortcomings of our personnel," he added.
An aggressive reform proposal to make IAS totally independent was presented by former PNP chief retired general Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar who included it in his legislative agenda when he ran for senator in the May 2022 elections.