Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), warned policemen from spending a lot of time tinkering with their smartphones especially while on duty. 

While Marbil does not totally ban the use of cellphones as he recognized that it is being used for communication, what he is against is the apparent addiction to social media to the point that the time spent for police work is already affected. 

“This is my first and last warning: no cellphones during duties. We need policemen conducting patrol, if they are caught, there will be no forgiveness, we will be very strict,” said Marbil.

“When you are on duty, then you should be on duty. When you are assigned to conduct beat patrols, then do the patrol. We need working policemen on the ground to make the people feel the presence of the PNP,” he added.

The prohibition was first implemented by Marbil when he was still the regional director of the Police Regional Office 8 in Eastern Visayas.

While in Eastern Visayas, Marbil said he personally caught policemen spending more time on their smartphones and now that he is the Chief PNP, he said he wants to implement it nationwide.

“They are just hooked on Facebook or watching videos. If we see them doing it at a time when they are supposed to do police work, then they are in trouble,” said Marbil.

Currently, the PNP has rules on the use of social media, including penalties for the misuse of the platforms.