Miriam to Napolcom: Shape up or ship out

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has called for the immediate reorganization of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) in a bid to improve the performance of the country’s police force in the wake of Monday’s bloody hostage-taking incident.

“The entire Philippine National Police (PNP) is in crisis and the situation calls for drastic measures. Considering the increasingly disturbing and controversial police-related incidents reported in the past weeks, I could only assume that the worst is yet to come. Our police officers should shape up or ship out,” Santiago said in a statement.

The veteran senator also took note of the reported torture by police in Tondo and the alleged police involvement in the death of car theft suspect Ivan Padilla.

“The incidents and reports keep getting worse. They even made international headlines. The PNP should get its act straight for our countrymen and redeem itself to the international community,” she said.

Santiago has filed Senate Bill 1748 (National Police Commission Reorganization Act) which aims to maximize the commission’s constitutional mandate to take charge of police operations and ensure the proper administration of areas of concern such as police education, communication, equipment, criminal identification, and criminal statistics.

“The quality of our police force depends on the hands that guide it. As peace and order is crucial to our country’s socio-economic development, Napolcom should be much more than glorified nannies of cops,” she said.

In order to achieve this goal, Santiago’s bill proposes that the Napolcom be subsumed under the Office of the President rather than the Department of the Interior and Local Government. 

“This way, the President will have a more direct hand in overseeing the police force, much like he handles the Armed Forces as its commander-in-chief. The Napolcom under the DILG at present only makes the chain of command longer,” the senator said.

She said a direct line between the Napolcom and the President would facilitate police activities under crisis situations such as large-scale disasters and those that involve foreign nationals.

Santiago explained that reorganizing the Napolcom in that manner also concretizes the abstract description of the police system in the Constitution.

Lagman: Robredo among the suspects

At the House of Representatives, Minority leader Edcel Lagman called on the government to moderate what he called “postmortem” analysis and concentrate on building up administrative and criminal cases against the officials who bungled the hostage-taking negotiation that led to the death of eight Hong Kong tourists.

Lagman said top police and government officials have already admitted that there were serious lapses and it’s time to take drastic action to appease international outrage over the bloody hostage crisis.

He told reporters during the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City that the responsibility of the serous lapses should not be limited to the local negotiating panel headed by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim but should go up to the highest level.

He said Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo should be held accountable for his failure to perform his duties as the overall head of the local government and PNP.

Lagman also warned that the appointment of Robredo as head of the inter-agency body that will investigate the hostage drama would not be acceptable to China and other countries closely watching developments in the case.

Meanwhile, Pangasinan Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr. said it is only proper for President Aquino to show humility, admit the flaws in the carnage and extend the sorrows and deepest apologies to the families of the victims. – Perseus Echeminada, Eva Visperas