The proposal to limit the number of police generals to 25 may not be enough even if the Philippine National Police (PNP) would restructure its administrative and operational units.
While the PNP welcomes the proposal of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla, national police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo explained that there are some factors that must be considered which includes the evolution of law enforcement that necessitates the creation of additional units that include the Anti-Cybercrime Group and the Women and Children Protection Center.
Currently, there are 111 police generals and all of them are holding positions that require the one-star to three-star ranks based on the existing organizational structure of the PNP.
The highest ranking position in the police organization, the Chief PNP, is a four-star rank while the three other positions in the Command Group, composed of the top four positions in the organization, require a three-star rank.
Each of the 11 Directorates of the PNP are held by two-star generals and that does not include the head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group which is also a two-star position.
On the other hand, there are 17 Police Regional Offices in the country and except for the position of the director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), all their heads require a one-star rank.
Other units in the PNP that are headed by at least one-star general are under the National Support Units (NSUs) like the ACG, the PNP Drug Enforcement Unit, the Anti-Kidnapping Group, the Intelligence Group and the Highway Patrol Group.
The director of another important PNP national support unit, the elite Special Action Force (SAF) is headed by a two-star general.
Consultations and study
The number of important positions in the PNP makes it difficult to adjust to the 25 police general limit proposed by Remulla, according to Fajardo, citing the necessity of maintaining the important PNP units.
“These are the main component ng PNP that would require further study and again the PNP like I said is willing to sit down to consult and dialogue with the SILG (Secretary of the Interior and Local Government) so that he would see the wisdom behind the proposed interim organization of the PNP which is aimed at really streamlining and further removing the administrative and operational capability of the PNP,” said Fajardo.
Another factor that must also be considered is the significant increase in the number of PNP personnel, which is part of the efforts to meet the international standard in policing that requires a 1:500 police to population ratio.
The current strength of the PNP is more than 230,000 and as of 2020, the population of the Philippines is 109 million.
On the other hand, the strength of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is around 160,000 but currently, it has around 120 generals while the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), which is a smaller unit compared to the PNP has 32 generals.
Bargain
Fajardo said the PNP is willing to sit down and have a dialogue with Remulla in connection with his recommendation to trim down the PNP generals to only 25.
One of the possible concessions is to deactivate some of the PNP units, particularly the Area Police Command which was previously called the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations.
The PNP has five Area Police Commands—Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Eastern Mindanao and Western Mindanao— and all of them should be headed by three-star police generals based on the existing rules. All of its deputies are positions that require at least a one-star rank.
The APC was created to synchronize the operation with the AFP which has the same number of area commands.
Fajardo said the PNP is willing to deactivate the five APCs and other police units and in fact, this was already stipulated in the proposal to the Congress to restructure the national police organization, according to PNP.
“We need some consultation and the PNP is open to dialogues and consultations with concerned government agencies and of course the PNP is willing to discuss this with our SILG,” said Fajardo.