Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla recommended to the President to decrease the number of generals in the Philippine national Police (PNP) from the current number of 133 to 25.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, October 22, Remulla bared that the President was very “acceptable’’ to his advice, citing the need to flatten the current “top-heavy’’ PNP’ organization as “there are a lot of generals now without commands.’’

“If you look at it, mayroon tayong APC–Area Police Command na wala namang tao sa ilalim nila ‘di ba so marami tayong mga lugar na redundancies na kailangang i-trim down. It’s a 32-year old law na kailangang bisitahin ulit so those are the things that we will examine (We have our APC-Area Police Command without any personnel under their command. So there are a lot of areas with redundancies that need to be trimmed down. It’s a 32-year law that needs to be revisited again. So those are the things that we will examine),’’ Remulla explained.

Regarding the fate of the concerned generals, Remulla said “we will let them retire’’ and not demote them, stressing that it is a priority and the plan “but just one of my recommendations to flatten the organization.’’

“Again, nothing’s final. It’s recommendatory, so wala pang ina-approve (it has not been approved),’’ Remulla clarified.

On how the number of generals ballooned to 133, Remulla pointed out the PNP law functions on “the Civil Service rules’’ that promotion of qualified police officers is every three years.

Under this scenario, the PNP has become top heavy, a structure which Remulla prefers to change and make the promotion of the qualified police officers to every five years.

Citing as an example, Remulla noted that there are a lot of provincial directors who are full colonels but after two years were placed on “floating’’ status since they are not yet eligible for promotion.

The DILG chief stressed that the number of PNP generals reached 133 due to the existing “function of the law’’ and not to the frequent promotions handed out by the Duterte administration.

Remulla believed that his recommendation to downsize the top heavy PNP organization will not result to demoralization within the ranks, saying that “they are  also soldiers’’ and “they follow orders and we’ll see.’’

Election hotspots

After conferring with the President, Remulla stated the topic on the 38 midterm elections hotspots were discussed, where 27 areas were identified to be in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) area.

“We will have a special meeting for that on November 15 to discuss the contingencies on what must be done to ensure a safe and fair elections for everyone there,’’ Remulla said.