2 police Training school officials probed

CAMP FLORENDO, La Union, Philippines – Two ranking officials of the Regional Training School (RTS) for police recruits in Aringay, La Union was investigated on orders of Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa for alleged irregularities in the salaries and benefits of rookie policemen.

Chief Superintendent Constante Azares Jr., Ilocos regional police director, told The STAR that Verzosa ordered the probe after receiving a complaint, through text messages, against RTS officials who allegedly pocketed the salaries and bonuses of new police graduates.

But Azares said they found that the two RTS officials, whose names were withheld pending the final results of the investigation, allegedly committed only financial mismanagement and not the serious allegation of pocketing salaries.

“They (RTS officials) will have to face the consequences and charges will be filed against them. We are not only sending these people to be accountable for their acts and misdeeds but there must be some ‘clear-cut’ procedures on how to disburse funds or report disbursements,” Azares said.

Based on the complaint supposedly from some of the more than 300 new police graduates, the RTS officials allegedly pocketed their salaries, bonuses and other benefits.

The RTS is under the Philippine Public Safety College and is partly supervised by the PNP.