By: Jennifer P. Rendon
EVERY single complaint against any member of the Western Visayas police force has reached the hierarchy of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
“And we have initiated the necessary investigation on these allegations,” said Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief.
Pamuspusan stressed this point as he vowed to fully sustain the gains of PRO-6 and continue to raise the bar of police service by pursuing the reform programs of the PNP.
Pamuspusan said that his strategic direction will be anchored in three major PNP policies.
First will be the internal cleansing through mentoring and developing leaders at all levels. There will be sustained reformation; and pro-active and smart policing.
“This regional office had a strong and determined implementation of the internal cleansing program of the PNP. It went after the misfits, investigated and filed administrative and criminal cases on policemen who were involved in illegal activities, especially on illegal drugs,” Pamuspusan said.
While it is a critical step in PRO-6’s internal program, he said that the campaign is not purely punitive but preventive and restorative, as well.
It was at this juncture that the case of three policemen who went on a drinking binge at a nightclub in Iloilo City was raised.
The three policemen who hold the ranks of Police Chief Master Sergeant, Master Sergeant, and Sergeant are assigned at the Regional Headquarters Support Unit 6 (RHSU-6) based in PRO-6 headquarters at Camp Delgado, Iloilo City.
Initial reports claimed that the three cops acted unruly and initially declined to pay their bill at Club 88 Disco Pub & Restaurant, a nightclub along J.M. Basa St., City Proper, Iloilo City, on June 26, 2019.
But regardless if they initially failed to pay their bill or acted unruly, they might be held responsible for violating a PNP directive banning cops inside bars, nightclubs and similar public drinking places and establishments.
Pamuspusan said the case reached his attention already.
“I’m just waiting for the recommendation of our investigators. But we will go hard on these personnel. As I’ve said, there are three faces of our internal cleansing program and the beginning is the punitive part and that will definitely fall under the punitive approach on our internal cleansing,” he said.
Pamuspusan said “there’s a big possibility that they will be dismissed because they specifically violated the policy of the President.”
Other police personnel should be forewarned about the possible fate of these personnel.
“If they still don’t believe that the PNP is serious on internal cleansing, then we will strongly implement the punitive approach of the campaign plan, which is to get rid of these people,” he said.
OTHER PROGRAMS
Pamuspusan also expounded on sustained reformation, which will strengthen PRO-6 as a whole.
The reform will be carried out through continuous efforts in addressing the gaps in Human Resource, Infrastructure and Equipment; Systems and Processes Systems in providing quality service, as well as bringing the police of Western Visayas closer to our institutional partners.
As PRO-6 measures where it is now as an organization in the implementation of internal cleansing, Pamuspusan believed that they are ready to move their focus to the next phase which is developing their personnel to become leaders in their own right through mentoring.
He said it will be done through the “squad system,” which aims to develop a cohesive and nurturing relationship among personnel, as they are being grouped to look after each other.
“We develop leaders through constant dialogues with their subordinates and giving them trainings and seminar so that they will improve individually and collectively in order to perform their respective given tasks more efficiently,” he said.
While PRO-6 has a highly commendable operational performance, proactive and smart policing will be enhanced by putting more premiums on the use of the technological advancement in Crime Prevention and Law Enforcement Operations.
“We will see to it that these technologies will help us a lot, as we go harder on illegal drugs and other forms of criminality,” Pamuspusan said.
A system of periodic evaluation and assessment will be crafted to monitor the progress of these programs to improve PRO-6’s gains.
