Some 900 newly recruited policemen will be deployed today in the cities of Makati, Parañaque and Taguig for community relations as part of their training as members of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) president Margarita Cojuangco said the deployment of new policemen – mostly new recruits, new police graduates and lateral entrants – was meant to immerse them in the community they will serve before they can become full-fledged police officers.
“We want the new policemen to stay in the community for a month to know the people they are going to serve before they will be assigned to any police station,” Cojuangco said.
According to Cojuangco, the 900 new policemen will be deployed in 67 barangays in Makati, Taguig and Parañaque today.
“We want the community to like them (policemen). With this community immersion program, the community will set the standard for policemen while the policemen will understand the need of the community,” Cojuangco told The STAR.
She pointed out that in the past, newly recruited policemen were immediately sent to police precincts and stations without knowing the community they will serve and protect.
The community immersion program is part of the field training exercises (ftx) of the public safety officer advanced course, public safety officer basic course and public safety basic recruit course administered by the PPSC.
The PPSC community immersion program is the PNP’s version of the civil military operations (CMO) implemented by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Tondo, Manila and Payatas, Quezon City.
Chief Superintendent Samson Tucay, director of the Police National Training Institute (PNTI), said under the immersion program, the policemen will live, eat, play, work and sleep with the community.
Without the immersion program, Tucay admitted that new policemen were confused with the police culture.
“Most new policemen feel they should be macho, have many women, a lot of money and go on power trips,” he said.
Tucay said he wants the new police officers to feel “how it is to be respected by people who are paying their salaries through taxes. In the process, we are making them feel how it is to be with the community.”
Based on records, Tucay said there are 12.6 million Filipinos of legal age but did not finish their schooling in 42,000 barangays nationwide. He said the statistics mean there are 300 potential criminals in every barangay nationwide.
Cojuangco said the PPSC did not allocate additional funds for the immersion program since the new recruits will just spend their subsistence allowance.
However, Cojuangco noted that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), under Secretary Augusto Syjuco, has allocated P500 million worth of scholarships to deserving out-of-school and unemployed individuals, who will be identified by the new policemen during the immersion program.
Cojuangco said the new police recruits can identify out-of-school and unemployed individuals in a barangay and can later refer them to become beneficiaries of the TESDA scholarship, which would help them become productive members of society.— Cecille Suerte Felipe