FORMER Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) director, Brigadier General Ronald O. Lee has returned to a unit where he will now be known as the PNP’s top training manager.

The ‘Ilocano Police General’ on Friday last week assumed his new post as director of the PNP Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development, seven months after he was designated as PNP Deputy Director for Intelligence after commanding the PNP CIDG from August 2022 to January this year.

A member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) ‘Tanglaw-Diwa’ Class of 1992, Lee will finally earn his 2nd-star as PNP-DHRDD director. Retiring from the police force on May 5, 2025, the official who has gained prominence for being a nemesis of kidnappers, car thieves and other lawless elements in the past will be temporarily shifting from being a ‘police operator to a police trainor.’

Lee is no stranger to the PNP-DHRDD which is used to be headed by Major Gen. Jon A. Arnaldo, a classmate of PNP chief, General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. from PMA ‘Sambisig’ Class of 1991. Maj. Gen. Arnaldo is now the new PNP Director for Intelligence.

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Chief of the PNP for his leadership and guidance and for entrusting me with this new and more encouraging responsibility despite the many challenges. Thank you very much Sir for your confidence. Rest assured that I will do my best to support the PNP organization under your snappy leadership,” Lee said in his assumption speech.

He made the remark during the joint turnover of command ceremony at Camp Crame presided over by PNP Deputy Chief for Operations, Lieutenant Gen. Michael John F. Dubria.

“After many years, I was able to return to the DHRDD as the Director. I am happy for this great opportunity to lead the DHRDD,” said the official who served as DHRDD Deputy Director for more than one month in 2020 before he was named as director of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG).

Lee also used to be a former director of the Cordillera Police Regional Office before being named as PNP-CIDG director in August 2022.

“To the men and women of DHRDD, I am excited to work with you to further the mission and vision of our Directorate. My top priority will be to ensure that as we continue to provide high-quality service to our people, we are also fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment and great opportunities for the career advancement of the men and women of the PNP,” he said.

“In the coming weeks and months, I look forward to learn more challenging ideas, roles and responsibilities as a public servant in order to continue to improve our organization,” the official added.

As the top training manager and prime mover of doctrine development in the 228,000-strong police force, the PNP-DHRDD director has been given the responsibility oversee and ensure the development and molding of PNP members into professional, trustworthy and dedicated police personnel.

Officials said the DHRDD is a major unit of the police force responsible for attracting the support and confidence of the Filipinos as it is behind the development of competent, reliable and well-trained policemen that bring real prestige and honor to the force.

The DHRDD is behind the formulation of policies, plans and budget, organization, direction, coordination, supervision and evaluation of all matters pertaining to police training, education and doctrine development.

It is also the unit that rationalizes and upgrades the systems and doctrines for PNP units and personnel with the end in view of attaining the PNP mission and vision, particularly the development of the morale, spiritual, physical and mental competence of all PNP personnel.

The PNP-DHRDD is also tasked to continuously develop and improve the skills and competence of the police force thru enhanced training and continuing education as these are the ‘tried and tested formula’ in building a successful organization.

The office is also the Office of Primary Responsibility or OPR for all official foreign travels of PNP personnel pertaining to all forms of training, research or study-related invitational activities, study/observation tours, short trainings or seminars, consultations and doctrinal research.

The PNP-DHRDD was clothed with more powers when former President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law giving the PNP control and supervision of training police recruits in 2019.

Prior to the signing of Republic Act 11279, police recruits undergo a training program under the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) before they are turned over to the PNP for formal hiring.

The new law allowed the PNP to supervise the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) and the National Police Training Institute (NPTI).

The PNPA is the premier institution for police education, and the primary source for commission-ship of police lieutenants while the NPTI is responsible for the mandatory and leadership training of all police non-commissioned officers (PNCOs).

Lee takes over the PNP-DHRDD which, under Maj. Gen. Arnaldo had scored a number of major accomplishments.

Arnaldo led the PNP Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development for the past 11 months and as chairman of the PNP Special Promotion and Awards Deliberation Board led the passage of 31 SPADB Resolutions which led in the special promotion of 25 policemen as well as the grant of special awards for 316 other deserving PNP personnel.

The official was also credited for continuing the ‘culture of frugality’ among PNP recruits and students to stop unwanted expenses and maximize the value of savings. As a result of the PNP-DHRDD initiative, one student-recruit was able to graduate while bring home more than P300,000 in savings.

The PNP-DHRDD was likewise able to enhance the functionality of the Police Open Academy or POA with a 2-Factor Authentication added as a security feature and as a preventive measure against hacking or data breach in the DHRDD information system.

“This initiative aims to improve the access to learning materials through internet as an online platform in training and educating our personnel in the field. It also facilitates the preparation of the list of personnel due for training and systematically determine and expedite the production of the Training Lineal List of or Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers thru the Learning Management System,” Arnaldo explained.

The PNP-DHRDD also teamed up with the University of the Philippines Law Center to improve the investigative skills of PNP investigators, operatives, training directors, training officers and lawyers by requiring them to undergo a well-designed seminar on laws and jurisprudence.

The DHRDD-UPLC partnership capacitated 160 uniformed personnel of the National Capital Region Police Office who physically attended the seminar at the U.P. Law Center and another 1,607 personnel from different PNP offices and units who attended the seminar via zoom.

Under the auspices of the PNP-DHRDD, a total of 2,689 policemen from the 17 PNP regional offices nationwide also attended the Clustered Traffic-Related Laws, Rules and Regulation Seminar from March 7 to 21 this year.

The seminar was designated for PNP Patrollers, Tourist Police and members of the different Police Mobile Forces to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively enforce traffic laws and regulations and help reduce the growing number of road-related accidents or incidents nationwide.

The PNP-DHRDD also partnered with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard to conduct 38 joint trainings thru the Joint AFP-PNP-PCG Training Education and Doctrine Development Cell.

The partnership benefitted 314 participants from the police force; 314 from the AFP and seven from the PCG.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon