PRESS your campaign against misfits and scalawags in uniform and see to it that they will get the harshest penalties they richly deserve.

This was the instruction given by Philippine National Police Officer-in-Charge, Lieutenant General Vicente D. Danao Jr. to all his regional and other field commanders whom he said must ensure that the ‘severest administrative punishment’ will be imposed on their erring personnel as part of their intensified internal cleansing program.

‘Wag rin nating kakalimutan na bigyan ng severe punishment, and I’m directing all unit commanders on the ground to strictly implement the internal cleansing. Let us enforce discipline in all ranks. That is what we should be. It is the very thing that is expected from us,” the top cop said.

The PNP’s internal cleansing program has seen a steady effort of the PNP to ensure that its ranks are cleared of erring police officers and scalawags.

The PNP from 2016 to last June dismissed 3,632 rogues in uniform and suspended 3,147 others for various criminal and administrative offenses. Another 9,408 erring police personnel were also reprimanded or demoted during the period.

Danao noted that by ensuring an honest-to-goodness campaign against erring policemen, the community itself will strengthen their partnership with the police force knowing that they can always be trusted and relied upon.

The PNP-OIC however called on his officials to see to it that they will always come in full defense of policemen who are being criticized and even charged with counter suits or harassment cases in the performance of hteir lawful duties.

Danao maintained that criticisms against the force are coming mainly from leftist groups who are only bent on ‘maligning and destroying’ the image of the PNP.

“The mere fact na walang madamay, masangkot na kahit sino sa atin sa kaso ay napakalaking bagay na. ‘Wag natin bibigyan ng butas ang ating mga kalaban sa gobyerno. Lalung lalo na ‘yung ating makakaliwang grupo,”’ he told his men.

The top cop said he is being hurt by wrong accusations being hurled upon them by their critics and perennial bashers. “Kung makikita niyo sa ngayon, kaunting pagkakamali lang ng pulis, binabash nang husto, kahit hindi naman regular na pulis, sinasabing pulis. These are designed to really malign and destroy the image of PNP because they wanted to show oppressiveness among the poor,” he said.

According to him, good cops should not let the criticisms from leftist groups affect them and continuing to carry out their mandate by doing what is right only.

“Just do your work and perform well and just do what is right and everything will be in order. Wag tayong magpapaapekto sa mga ganitong klaseng organisasyon na patuloy na sumisira at patuloy na naninira sa ating miyembro ng hanay ng mga kapulisan,” he said.

Danao had also lamented that many of the mainstream media have failed to report stories of police heroism specifically the cases of dozens of policemen who have been killed in gunbattles with armed drug dealers, kidnappers and other lawless elements.

He cited the case of Patrolman Joshua Lingayo, the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group agent who died 14 days after being shot by one of two heavily-armed kidnappers in Pililla, Rizal and Sergeant Nikki Cordera, the Masbate policeman who was killed in a shootout with a wanted New People’s Army rebel in Pasay City two Fridays ago.

Danao said that in the case of the PNP-AKG operative, the media failed to report the heroic deed of the 24-year old Lingayo and instead focused on the case of an SUV driver who got involved in a viral hit-and-run incident in Mandaluyong City.

Lingayo was shot while involved in a follow-up operation to arrest the heavily-armed kidnappers who seized two men in Tondo, Manila last June 4. He died after fighting for his life for 14-days, said PNP-AKG director, Brigadier Gen. Rudolph B. Dimas.

CONVICTION OF 5 MAKATI COPS FOR KIDNAPPING PROOF PNP SPARING NO ONE

The conviction of five Pasay City police officers arrested by counter-intelligence agents in 2019 for kidnapping a ‘drug suspect’ and demanding P100,000 for his release is a solid proof that the PNP is sparing no one in its internal cleansing program, the PNP leadership said.

“The guilty verdict meted on the five Pasay City police anti-drug unit operatives vindicates the operation of the now defunct PNP Counter-Intelligence Task Force and the complaint of the victim last 2019,” said PNP Public Information Office chief, Brig. Gen. Roderick Augustus B. Alba.

Convicted by the Makati City court for violation of Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code or kidnapping were Inspector Ronaldo Prades, Police Officer 3 Rigor Octavio, Police Officer 2 Sajid Anwar Nasser and Police Officers 1 John Mark Cruz and Anthony Fernandez.

“This is also a proof that the PNP is taking action against rogue cops and that we don’t tolerate illegal deeds within the organization while the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group of IMEG (formerly CITF), and the rest of the units shall continue to police its own ranks and any complaint against a police officer will be addressed immediately,” he added.

Officers from the former PNP-CITF arrested the five following a complaint that they illegally arrested and detained a drug target and demanded P100,000 for his liberty.

With their conviction, they are now facing as much as a 40-year jail term as ordered by Judge Andres Soriano of the Makati City Regional Tral Court Branch 148.

The court ruled that Nasser, Fernandez and Cruz arrested their prey as he was walking on a street at the boundary of Makati and Pasay cities and took him to the Pasay City DEU office where he was kept the entire day and was only allowed to call his live-in partner at 9 p.m. to relay the police’s demand for P100,000.

However, the victim’s partner decided to go straight to the PNP-CITF headquarters in Camp Crame to file a complaint that led to the entrapment operation which led in the arrest of Nasser inside their office.

The four other accused were able to flee with the ‘boodle money’ but were eventually identified and charged in court.

The PNP leadership discovered that the suspects did not record their operation in the Pasay City DEU blotter and that the victim was not even involved in any prior drug case.

The incident triggered the relief of the entire Pasay City DEU personnel and their chief of police.

The five suspects were later dismissed from the police force after being found guilty of administrative charges for grave misconduct for robbery, graft, and violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.