PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar on Tuesday ordered the disqualification of three police applicants in Bangsamoro Administrative Region Police Regional Office who were found to have deliberately submitted fake RT-PCR results during their screening.

Based on the latest report, three of the 66 applicants were disqualified for dishonesty. Criminal charges will also be filed against them, the PNP chief said.

Gen. Eleazar said that nine of the 66 applicants were already cleared while 54 other applicants, all from Lanao del Sur, are currently undergoing investigation.

The top cop said they found out about the anomaly when a team from the PNP Recruitment and Selection Service headed by Colonel Ma. Leonora Camarao went to the PRO-BAR to oversee the ongoing recruitment system amid reports in the past of the prevalence of irregularities in the police recruitment in the area.

“I have already issued an order to delist the names of all the applicants who deliberately submitted fake RT-PCR tests in PRO-BAR. This order extends to other PROs and PNP units to do the same. We will not give a second chance for this year’s recruitment to those who would dare bastardize our recruitment process,” said Gen. Eleazar.

“Kasi kung papayagan natin na palusutin ang mga ito, it will send a very wrong message na okay lang ang kanilang ginawa. For all we know, kapag nakapasok ang mga ito ay baka ito yung mga pulis na magtatanim lang nang ebidensya dahil ngayon pa nga lang may kalokohan ng ginawa,” he added.

The PNP chief said that some of these applicants admitted during investigation that they did not indeed undergo swab test but still submitted the fake document. They said they paid P500 for the fake RT-PCR result.

On the other hand, some of the applicants were subjected to swab test but were unaware that the RT-PCR results they submitted are fake.

“Nagbigay na ako ng instruction na yung mga aplikante na sinadyang mag-submit ng pekeng RT-PCR result ay hindi lang i-disqualify kundi kasuhan na rin. Ito yung sinasabi natin na dapat salain maigi ang mga papasok sa PNP dahil kung ngayon pa lang na gumawa na sila ng kalokohan, sigurado na magiging sakit ng ulo ito sa PNP kapag naging pulis na ang mga ito,” he said.

“Para naman dun sa mga aplikante na hindi alam na naloko sila, they were advised to undergo another swab test and submit the result as soon as possible,” he added.

Gen. Eleazar also directed the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) to conduct operation against those who are involved in the production and sale of fake RT-PCR tests in the region.

“We are now conducting investigation to identify all those involved in this, including the personnel of the medical facility which issued the fake RT-PCR results and the signatories in the falsified document, and my instruction is to charge and arrest them all para hindi na makapang-loko pa,” the PNP chief said.

The aggressive reform in the PNP Recruitment System is a long-term internal cleansing measure initiated by Gen. Eleazar under his Intensified Cleanliness Policy when he assumed the top post in May 8 this year in a move to demolish the culture of corruption and ‘padrino’ system in the PNP recruitment system.

He said that the anomalous recruitment system is one of the major roots of the culture of abuse and wrongdoings among a few members of the PNP who entered the police service in irregular ways.

“Our recruitment process under CORES (Comprehensive Online Recruitment Encrypting System ) works on a concept of honesty, integrity and trust on the system. If you cannot respect our recruitment process, then you have no place in our organization,” the PNP chief explained.

“Magsilbi sanang aral ito sa iba pang mga aplikante at sa mga susunod na mag-a-apply sa PNP na gawin ang tama at sumunod sa proseso. Through this QR Code System in our recruitment process, we will make sure that we will recruit only the best for the PNP,” the PNP chief added.

The CORES uses a QR Code System for all PNP applicants to ensure that the entry of those who want to be policemen would be purely based on qualifications. More than 17,000 policemen will be recruited this year.