PHILIPPINE National Police chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. on Sunday vowed to further sustain their effort to improve the investigative skills of his men as part of the PNP’s effort to bring justice to all and further improve their conviction rate.

The top cop said he is recognizing the challenges in the investigation of criminal cases and thus vowed to continue seeking ways to enhance the competency of police personnel in probing crimes and safeguarding evidence.

In year 2021 alone, he said that 4,326 personnel graduated under a recapitulation program for case handling. Currently, a retraining of some 16,000 investigators and evidence custodians is already underway, he added.

“This retraining program is a reinforcement to better capacitate our personnel and to boost their morale despite the extensive requirements in filing cases in the judiciary,” Gen. Azurin said.

The PNP chief also expressed optimism that the PNP’s low conviction rate for drug cases won’t affect the force’s keen resolve to continue the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.

“Let us not be discouraged because we continue to upscale our capabilities. My mandate is to make sure to always strictly follow the proper procedure in conducting operations and collating pieces of evidence for the court to appreciate. Sagot po ng inyong PNP ang inyong kaligtasan ngunit tulong-tulong po tayong sugpuin ang krimen,” Gen. Azurin said.

Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ C. Abalos Jr. previously cited the need to enhance the skills of police investigators to ensure the conviction of culprits in criminal cases.

According to the official, the retraining of PNP investigators is part of the Marcos administration’s effort to further professionalize the police force.

“It is important that our police investigators are well versed in criminal law. Each criminal act has its own elements and for that, each one of the investigators knows these elements very well,” he said as he maintained that enhancing the PNP’s investigation expertise is important as this would determine the fate of a case.

“This single act will determine whether or not the case would be dismissed or not. When it reaches the court, remember, the evidence that is needed in criminal law is proof beyond reasonable doubt,” he explained.

The DILG chief cited information that the PNP has only 22,774 investigators, with only 123 of them law graduates.

He added that from 2016 to July 15, 2022, police filed a total of 291,393 drug-related complaints or violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Of these cases, the official said that 62,000 or around 21 percent only resulted in convictions while 5,551 were dismissed outright by prosecutors while another 5,753 were dismissed by regional trial courts.

The DILG chief said that some 223,579 cases or about 77 percent are still pending and are being monitored by his department. Philippine News Agency