DILG to eradicate ‘padrino system’ in PNP

DILG Secretary Mar Roxas

Secretary Mar Roxas of Interior and Local Government yesterday said concrete measures are being undertaken by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to cleanse its ranks of any vestiges of corruption, particularly at the start of recruitment of its new personnel.

A survey done by Transparency International revealed that the public perceives PNP officials as among the most corrupt in the Philippines. In a scale of 1-5, the respondents of the survey gave the police a score of 4 overall.

In a statement, Roxas said the issue will be addressed by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), PNP, and the National Police Commission (NPC).

“This is a big challenge for us, but we will face this head on through concrete measures,” Roxas said in Filipino. He said major changes will be made in the selection process for the police force.

Roxas said that they will institute measures so that applicants to the police force will no longer have to depend on the support of an insider or a corrupt official, locally referred to as “padrino” system. He said that the tendency of a new recruit is to engage in illegal activity to recover the money that he gave to the corrupt official for processing of his application.

He said all applicants who passed the requirements and exams will now have an equal chance to be accepted in the PNP.

Roxas has ordered DILG personnel to finalize the implementing rules for processing of application. He said a new policeman who undergoes the legal application process most likely will not be pressured to resort to illegal activities. Overtime, there will be improvement in PNP’s public image. (RDA/PIA Newsdesk/DILG)

source:  PIA