AN honest-to-goodness counter-intelligence work is what the Philippine National Police (PNP) needs to succeed in its continuing all-out efforts to ferret out misfits and scalawags in the force regardless of their rank and position, PNP chief, General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. said Wednesday.

The erstwhile PNP Director for Intelligence said pure counter-intelligence work means everybody in the organization — from patrolman up ,are documenting irregularities being committed by their superiors and colleagues and submitting their reports to him and other high officials.

The member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) ‘Sambisig’ Class of 1991 was the head of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence before he was appointed by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. as the 29th PNP chief, the 2nd top cop to be designated by the Commander-in-Chief after now retired Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr.

The new top cop has appealed to his men to document the irregular activities of their superiors noting that a good ‘counter-intelligence’ would help them really cleanse their ranks specifically of those involved in illegal drugs and other corrupt activities.

“Kailangan ng pagkakaisa, even the lowest, kahit yung mga juniors na mga PNP officers. Yung mga tinuruan natin sa Intelligence Training Group, yung mga Police Non-Commissioned Officers ang sabi ko, ‘let us use, yung counter-intelligence work’, so yung ating kapulisan, kung may ginagawang katiwalian yung ating superiors o head officers, please, let us document that,” he said.

Gen. Acorda appealed to the public to also send their reports directly to him. “Huwag pong matakot, magsumbong po tayo sa ating kapulisan. Send the letters to me, and I will have these validated,” he said.

The PNP chief said that documented misbehavior by some police personnel will be thoroughly taken cognizance by the PNP Internal Affairs Service and the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group which he briefly headed.

The PNP-IAS under Inspector General Alfegar M. Triambulo and the PNP-IMEG headed by Brigadier Gen. Warren F. De Leon have been ordered by Gen. Acorda to further intensify their fight against wrongdoings in the force by going after rogues in uniform and making sure they are formally charged with criminal and administrative offenses that will lead to their dismissal from the force.

Gen. Acorda however made it clear that they would only name high-ranking PNP officials found to have drug links only once criminal and administrative complaints have been filed against them formally.

The PNP chief had said he is against the idea of subjecting policemen to ‘public shaming’ without any formal charges against them to prevent influencing public opinion and noting that these officers have also served the country.

“Ang nasa usapan namin is, we will only name names once the case is filed. Habang hindi pa na-file ang kaso, medyo para sa protection din nila kasi kailangan maging maingat tayo diyan. May pamilya din yan, kamag-anak. Kahit papaano ay nag-render ng service sa kapulisan,” he explained.

The 5-Man Advisory Group created by President Marcos to screen 3rd-Level PNP Officers who submitted their courtesy resignations to him last January cleared 917. However, a total of 36 will be subjected to a thorough study by the National Police Commission.

Gen. Acorda said he has ordered all 17 PNP Regional Directors to further step up their campaign against rogue PNP personnel in their areas.

However, he maintained that there are just a few scalawags in the 228,000-strong police force who should be identified and expelled.

“I intend to conduct really kung sino po ‘yung mga nasa listahan at ayaw magbagong-buhay, ay talagang ooperate-an na natin. That is what I’m urging. Noong mineet natin ‘yung regional directors, ‘yan ang hiniling ko sa kanila — that the command responsibility, sa bawat paglilinis sa bawat level, is dapat masusunod,” he said.