PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. on Thursday assured the country that their internal cleansing program will continue to be unrelenting this year as they pursue their goal of unmasking, jailing and firing the ‘few bad apples’ in the 226,000-strong organization.

According to the top cop, their internal cleansing drive in 2022 continued with greater focus to purge the organization of undesirable personnel who do not conform with the norms of discipline and proper conduct. The main task is being done by the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group headed by Brigadier Gen. Warren F. de Leon.

A report from the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management showed that in 2022, a total of 2,635 errant PNP personnel were meted penalties ranging from withholding of privileges to dismissal from the service due to administrative cases as a direct result of violation of PNP rules and regulations, or involvement in criminal activities.

Gen. Azurin said this hardline stance of the PNP against breach of discipline and misconduct within the ranks is the most prominent manifestation of our genuine responsiveness and commitment to reform the organization and enable it to absorb further development and modernization.

Among these 2,635 delinquent personnel, the PNP chief said 584 were dismissed from the service, 164 were demoted in rank and 1,225 were meted suspension terms. Another 456 were reprimanded, 117 were meted salary forfeiture penalties, 26 were restricted to quarters and 63 were denied privileges.

Further, he said that those dismissed from the service were found administratively liable in 321 AWOL cases, 42 for drug use, 15 for failure to attend court duty, 20 for violence against women, and others for involvement in criminal cases for murder, homicide, carnapping, illegal drugs, robbery extortion and rape.

“I would like to point out the correlation of organizational reform and individual performance as benchmark factors to the accomplishment of unit mission. Through significant gains in the PNP internal reform program, PNP units fared well in performing our law enforcement and public safety mandate,” Gen. Azurin underscored.

The PNP chief assured the public of their unrelenting efforts to identify and arrest rogues in uniform amid their massive internal cleansing program aimed at ensuring that good cops will be aptly rewarded while the bad ones will be punished to the hilt.

Apart from being stripped of their service firearms and badges, rogue members of the police force have to contend with the fact that their eventual dismissal from the force will mean that all their benefits will be forfeited too in favor of the government, Gen. Azurin said.

The PNP chief cited the number of erring policemen who were fired from the force for robbery-extortion, some of them found to have extorted just a few thousands of pesos from poor victims who bravely filed a complaint and testified against them.

“Pinagpapalit ng ibang mga tiwaling miyembro ng kapulisan ang kanilang dangal at pangmatagalang benepisyo sa kakaunting pera. Nawa’y maisip ng lahat na hindi biro ang pagpasok sa kapulisan at lalong hindi biro ang aming internal cleansing program,” Gen. Azurin said.

Once dismissed from the police force, an individual cop will lose all his retirement benefits including pension. PNP records show that following a period of active service of 20 years or more, the monthly retirement pay is 50 percent of the base pay and longevity pay, increasing by 2.5 percent for each year of active service beyond 20 up to a maximum of 90 percent for 36 years of service.

Before the year ended, PNP-IMEG agents arrested two rookie Makati City policemen for robbery-extortion during an entrapment operation in the city.

The PNP chief commended the PNP-IMEG for hauling to jail Patrolman Mark Dann P. Advincula, 32, and Pat. Mark Joseph A. Segador, 31, both assigned at beat patrollers of the Makati City Police Sub-Station 6.

Brig. Gen. de Leon said the two were arrested by IMEG agents in an entrapment operation along Apolinario Mabini Street in Poblacion, Makati City.

The PNP-IMEG launched the sting following a complaint from a call center agent whose two mobile phones were earlier confiscated by the arrested police officers. The two were accused of demanding money from the complainant for her release without any charges.

According to the complainant, she was threatened with a criminal complaint by the two policemen reportedly based on a separate complaint from a foreign national who claimed that he lost his ATM card and money.

Brig. Gen. de Leon said the complainant, a female call center agent and her live-in partner are both Quezon City residents.

The woman claimed that Pat. Advincula used his own cell phone -the phone number found to have been declared by the accused in his PNP Personal Data Sheet—in calling her to demand money from her.

It turned out that the woman met a Polish-like foreigner in the evening of December 8 and befriended her. After they exchanged numbers, the woman said that the next day, she received a text message asking her to go to the Makati City Police Station to answer a complaint that foreigner lost P130,000 in cash and her ATM card after meeting the former.

The complainant said that when she decided to meet the text sender somewhere in Makati City, she was accosted by the two suspects who were on board a white vehicle with ‘Pulis’ marking but without a blinker and was taken to the Makati City Police Sub-Station 6.

The woman said that the suspects took her iPhone Promax 13 before going to their house in Q.C. where they again confiscated her live-in partner’s iPhone.

The two were then brought to Bgy. Poblacion for alleged ‘blotter purposes’ but were later asked to pay P50,000 in exchange for their two iPhones. The two policemen also did not file any criminal case against the two.

Undercover officers of the PNP-IMEG monitored the payoff and effected the arrest after the two conspired to receive the marked money from the complainant.

Members of the IMEG Counter-Intelligence Division, with the assistance of officers from the PNP Special Action Force’s 3rd Special Action Battalion, the Southern Police District Intelligence Division and the Makati City Police Station under Brig. Gen. Kirby John B. Kraft effected the arrest of the two after they conspired to receive the P50,000 boodle money topped by a marked P1,000 bill.

They were immediately stripped of their service firearms and PNP Identification Cards. The two also yielded the marked money. Their motorcycle keys were also confiscated by the PNP-IMEG.

Both suspects were immediately whisked to the PNP-IMEG headquarters in Camp Crame where they were locked up at the IMEG detention facility They will be facing criminal charges for robbery-extortion and administrative charges for grave misconduct, an offense punishable by dismissal from the service.

“The PNP will never tolerate any irregularity and breach of discipline in the police service. These two Patrolmen will have to face the consequences of their actions. We will always be steadfast in our thrust to discipline our personnel while we value each and everyone’s welfare while serving the Filipino people,” Gen. Azurin said.