By Jennifer P. Rendon
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
But such cliché is what Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 would like to defy, as it gave second chances to 17 policemen who were earlier meted with administrative penalties for various misdemeanors.
The 17 police non-commissioned officers (PNCOs) started their 30-day Focused Reformation/Reorientation and Moral Enhancement (FORM) seminar for police officers on Aug. 17, 2020 at the PRO-6 headquarters in Camp Delgado, Iloilo City.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson, said the conduct of the training is in consonance with the PNP’s internal cleansing efforts.
Under the PNP Command Memorandum Circular 20-2017, the program is designed to transform erring police personnel who were subjects of complaints for malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance and to those who deliberately refused to “toe the line.”
“This program is also intended for PNP personnel who have derogatory records or were reported to have involvement in illegal activities,” Malong said.
These 17 police officers with ranks of patrolman/woman up to Police Master Sergeant are from the different police units in the region who were punished with administrative cases. The sanctions include demotion, suspension, and forfeiture of salary.
Malong said the seminar aims to inculcate discipline among erring policemen; help change the attitude and perception of erring policemen towards effective service; to reorient and re-educate PNP personnel to become God-centered, service-oriented and family-based individuals.
“We hope that these activities will also enhance the character and aptitude of PNP personnel to become good servant leaders and encourage them to contribute in the accomplishment of the PNP’s mandate,” she said.
Meanwhile, Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police director, believed that the program will reinforce the moral fibers of his personnel and would transform them to become better police officers.
He also emphasized that being placed under this schooling is not bad, after all, but an acceptance of responsibility and helping themselves to become better individuals for their families, the organization and in the community.
Pamuspusan stressed that the PNP stands firm in its internal cleansing efforts with the FORM Seminar as a reinforcement to achieve its goal to cleanse the organization of scalawags.
For this year, it was the first FORM seminar conducted by PRO-6.
