RES GESTAE
Open the 'playing field'
The Philippine National Police must at all times ensure equal opportunities among its members.
Though “inequality” is inevitable in some cases, there are areas in the PNP where equal access and privilege may be availed of, but are not made accessible at the present.
This is particularly true in the hiring of personnel for Line Officer positions through the Lateral Entry Program wherein license in Criminology is an essential requisite.
Obviously, the requirement discriminately excludes police personnel who, despite being Criminology graduates, do not have the license, or are graduates of other courses.
The requirement, I contend, is without sound basis.
Criminologists may have been trained in areas directly related to police works – ballistics, questioned documents, intelligence, investigation, police-community relations, etc.
But, expertise in these subjects is not mandatory for Line Officer positions. What Line Officers must possess are management and leadership skills.
In manning a police station, a Chief of Police is more required to exercise competence in leading his subordinates, managing the unit’s resources and resolving conflicts.
These roles are being exercised in relation to basic police duties – traffic, intelligence, investigation and patrol.
And, should there be a need for specialized functions or interventions; the PNP has units to do the same: Crime Laboratory Office (CLO) for Scene of the Crime Operations/Investigation (SOCO/I); Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) and CLO for ballistics; Intelligence Group (IG) for intelligence concerns; Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), Investigation and Detective Management (IDM), and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe cases.
Stated otherwise, there are police units where license in Criminology is a must, like the ones I mentioned earlier, but not in Line Officer positions.
Any competent police officer, regardless of his degree and eligibility, may run a station.
There are police personnel who are not licensed criminologists but have earned a master’s or even doctorate degree. Similarly, there are a good number of police personnel who are graduates of Bachelor of Laws.
To say the least, these police personnel did not earn those degrees for nothing.
Why can’t they be qualified then for Line Officer positions?
This question lingers in my mind because I don’t see a point in barring those police personnel from applying in Lateral Entry Program.
Really, I don’t see a point.
Thus, should the PNP (and importantly the National Police Commission) remain short sighted or myopic on this issue, being a master or doctor in the PNP is indeed nothing. Police personnel’s efforts and sacrifices in earning a master’s and doctorate degree will be rendered an exercise in futility.
I, therefore, contend that for the PNP in order to have the best leaders in its ranks, competitive examinations must be administered to all police personnel in the hiring of candidates for Line Officer positions; provided, these police personnel are qualified by rank and time and grade.
Should this option be considered, only then we can say, “Indeed, the PNP Line Officers are not only qualified; they are also competent.”
So, why not the Napolcom open the playing field? Now!