No more ‘quota system’ for PNP – Azurin
PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. on Monday emphasized there is no more so-called “quota system” in the force when it comes to making anti-criminality arrests as they are bent on making apprehensions all geared at ensuring the certainty of punishment for the lawbreakers.
Azurin said that Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” C. Remulla has asked them to ensure that such “old practices” will be halted.
“When he spoke of the so-called ‘quota system,’ he was referring to cases na huli lang nang huli ang mga law enforcers just for the sake na manghuhuli. Sabi niya, let’s do away with those things as it affects the reputation of the country’s law enforcers if we keep on doing that just to comply,” the top cop said.
Azurin emphasized that, at present, police are making arrests in accordance with the provisions of law and with full emphasis on the protection of human rights, all with the end in view of making convictions.
“Let’s be fair, let’s be just. Kung wala namang kasalanan bakit huhulihin, bordering sa ‘planting’ of evidence at ano-anong kaso ang huhulihin para masabi nlang na me ginagawa. Kung magtatrabaho tayo, magtrabaho na tayo ng maayos,” the PNP chief told his men.
When he spoke during the flag-raising rites at Camp Crame, the DOJ chief said there is now more unity between the police force and the justice department.
He said there are many challenges facing them, however, particularly during the case build-up. “There’s an apparent gap between law enforcers and prosecutors. The prosecutors play a passive role, they just wait for the police before. As a result, our conviction rate is below 50 percent, way, way below 50 percent, depende yan on who does the counting,” Remulla said.
The DOJ chief said that as a result of “quota arrests,” there are many cases in which innocent people agree to plea bargaining just to have a light punishment.
“This is problematic for so many reasons. First, it erodes the credibility of our law enforcers, 2nd, the certainty of punishment for those who violate the law is not guaranteed, and 3rd, all jails are unnecessarily congested,” he said.
“The solution is to change our case build-up rules. We want PNP and DOJ prosecutors to work hand-in-hand to collect (the) right evidence, connect the dots and build strong evidence in court,” he said.
“I hope that we will be able to improve the conviction rate and better serve the people by providing the safety and security every people deserves. Good Filipinos must love the police, the criminals must hate the police,” he added.
“Isang pakiusap lang kung nandun pa, ‘wag nang pairalin ang quota-quota system. Hindi po statistics ang buhay ng tao, hindi po accomplishment ang magpakulong ng inosenteng tao, nakakawalang gana ang ganoong sistema. Pakinggan po natin ang boses ng tao, let us earn the trust and confidence of the people, and PNP and DOJ must work together to have a better criminal justice system for the people,” he underscored.
