Abalos wants more power for sitting Chief PNP to immediately sack negligent commanders
Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos wants the Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to exercise what he describes as “elbow room of flexibility” in removing police commanders who are not doing their job well.
Abalos said giving the Chief PNP the power to do so is one of the initial measures to fully and strictly implement the Doctrine of Command Responsibility in the police organization following the death of a 17-year old son of an overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at the hands of the policemen in Navotas and the questionable anti-illegal drugs operation in Imus, Cavite.
“”What we see is giving more flexibility to our Chief PNP. While the three-strike policy is good, he does not have to wait for three strikes if he thinks that the lapses have magnitude effects,” said Abalos in a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
“He could remove (the commander) immediately… we should have that elbow room to the Chief PNP as far as I am concerned,” he added.
The three-strike rule has been adopted in various campaigns in the PNP, including illegal drugs, human rights violations, illegal gambling and peace and order.
Based on the PNP memorandum that set the guideline in the implementation of the three-strike policy, the immediate commander would be relieved from his post “on the presumption of negligence if during his tenure his subordinates are involved in three criminal offenses whether or not he took corrective or preventive actions.”
“This 3-strike policy shall apply without prejudice to the filing of an administrative case against the Immediate Officer for Neglect of Duty,” the Memorandum dated Jan. 10, 2011, which rationalized the administrative relief policy on Doctrine of Command Responsibility, read.
But Abalos said that he would consult his recommendation to the National Police Commission and the top PNP leadership.
Aside from giving more power for the Chief PNP to immediately remove non-performing police commanders, Abalos said they are still checking if the police operational procedures are updated since there are old terminologies that were sourced from old laws.
“There are a lot of things (police operational procedure) that came from old laws. The terminologies are old so we need to update,” he said.