PNP eyeing 5,000 new cops

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) is recruiting 5,000 new policemen on a yearly basis to balance the police-to-population ratio by year 2012.

As part of its five-year medium development plan, the PNP leadership also expects that the equipment requirement of the police force shall have been filled-up as well by then.

According to Deputy Director General Jesus Verzosa, PNP Deputy Chief for Administration, the PNP’s five-year Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) aims to trim down the disproportion in the number of police personnel needed to serve the entire population.

“Considering the annual 2.3 percent increase in population, by year 2012 we expect that the recruitment of 5,000 police personnel every year will eventually catch up with the disparity,” Verzosa said.

He said the PNP is synchronizing all actions being undertaken under the MTDP, the PNP Modernization Plan, and the PNP Integrated Transformation Program to maximize all efforts and outputs.

“By year 2012, we expect to achieve a police-to-population ratio of one policeman for every 700 citizens,” he said.

The current ratio is 1:1100 or one policeman serving 1,100 citizens on a nationwide basis.

Verzosa said the projected increase in troop strength of the PNP in the next four years is complemented by a corresponding modernization plan that will ensure 100 percent fill-up in firepower requirement of the entire force.

“These development plans envision to equip every police personnel with at least one long and one short firearm, which is the standard individual police equipment,” he said.