IN a move to help achieve their target of ‘zero backlog’ target when it comes to hearing the administrative cases of their erring personnel, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, Brigadier General Jonnel C. Estomo has ordered the reassignment of Metro Manila policemen-lawyers to their headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City to address their problem on the lack of summary hearing officers.

The insufficient number of summary hearing officers has been known as a major factor behind the huge volume of unresolved administrative cases in the NCRPO which remains the ‘show window’ of the 226,000-strong police force when it comes to performance and credibility.

It is a fact that each time an officer or any personnel of the NCRPO and its five districts: the Manila, Quezon City, Southern, Northern and Easter Police Districts are accused of involvement in irregularities and other abusive acts, the image and reputation of the entire police force suffer.

In line with the directive of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. to put priority in immediately resolving all administrative cases involving police uniformed and non-uniformed personnel, Estomo ordered the reassignment of all policemen-lawyers in the metropolitan police force to the NCRPO Discipline, Law and Order Division.

The presence of additional PNP lawyers in the NCRPO disciplinary unit based in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City will help declog the administrative dockets of the region, said the Metro Manila police chief.

“This is in line with the Internal Cleansing Program being implemented by the PNP to fight corruption within the PNP system and eliminate all erring cops and scalawags,” the official said.

Citing NCRPO statistics, Estomo said there were a total of 477 new administrative cases that were submitted and documented by the NCRPO-DLOD from January to date.

Of the total, 265 have been resolved while 212 are still under evaluation.

Out of 265 resolved cases, 209 were categorized as grave offenses which include dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, conviction of a crime and falsification of official documents.

Another 30 were considered as less grave offenses such as simple neglect of duty, simple misconduct, gross discourtesy in the course of official duties, insubordination, and habitual drunkenness. On the other hand, there were 26 recorded other simple offenses, he said.

Estomo said that since the year started, 176 NCRPO personnel have been dismissed from the service, 29 were demoted, 476 were suspended, 141 faced forfeiture of salary, and 76 were reprimanded.

Apart from dismissal from the service, policemen who were accused with less serious charges were meted with several penalties, he explained.

“With our commitment to raise the level of discipline, competence, and effectiveness of our personnel, we will intensify our efforts to cleanse the ranks within the organization,” he assured the public.

“The road to internal cleansing might be long but with the assistance and expertise of all these lawyers, the internal cleansing effort of the NCRPO will not be in vain,” he added.

The official last week also sent 17 members of the Manila Police District Station 5 to a 45-day reformatory training program following the arrest of their three colleagues for robbery-extortion last week.

NCRPO acting regional chief of staff, Colonel Lex Ephraim C. Gurat led the ceremonies marking the start of the Focused Reformation/Reorientation and Moral Enhancement for Police Officers in Line with Internal Cleansing Efforts or FORME POLICE in Camp Bagong Diwa.

Azurin earlier cited the need to strictly enforce discipline in the force following the case of the 17 MPD personnel who were relieved from their posts and reassigned to the MPD District Personnel Holding and Accounting Section after the arrest of their three colleagues in an entrapment operation conducted by agents of the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group headed by Brig. Gen. Warren F. de Leon.

Azurin said their internal cleansing program which is a combination of preventive, punitive and restorative approaches come vis-à-vis with their unrelenting anti-criminality, anti-drug and counter-terror drivers.

“The recent operations launched by the PNP-IMEG against our own personnel who continue to defy rules and resist reform, particularly in Taguig and Manila, is just a preview of more efforts forthcoming in the PNP internal reform program as further reinforced by the Malasakit, Kaayusan at Kapayapaan tungo Kaunlaran or M+K+K=K strategic framework thru the Kasimbayanan synergy of police, church and community,” the PNP chief said.

Estomo said it is his standing policy to retrain policemen who are direct colleagues of erring cops arrested in operations made in line with the PNP’s stepped-up internal cleansing program.

“The fault of one member is the fault of other members of a unit or office because they failed to whisper a good advice and care for the welfare of their colleagues,” the NCRPO chief pointed out.

“You must be your brother’s keeper,” he said as he emphasized that members of the NCRPO must be an extraordinary role model of all citizens, their colleagues included, and should be worthy of emulation by others.

Estomo said the involved cops are also being subjected to an exhaustive investigation while undergoing retraining which aims to discipline them and strengthen their ethics while evaluating their commitment to do their sworn duties. t each police officers to their sworn duties,” he said.

The official said he also wants his officers to practice ‘On-the-Spot Correction’ in which senior commissioned or non-commissioned police officers must immediately correct minor offenses of their subordinates as soon as they observe such infraction.