"What does it mean to be civilian in character?"
"What does it mean to be civilian in character?"
The current constitution mandates that the police of the country be national in scope and civilian in character. To comply with this provision, RA 6975 was passed in 1990 abolishing the Philippine Constabulary. This law, too became the nucleus of the Philippine National Police, established as a civilian police force under the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Over the years, the PNP tried to civilianize the police force by changing the ranks of personnel and designations. For instance, instead of Lt. Colonel, it became Superintendent and instead of Regional Commander, the designation became Regional Director.
What was not changed, however, were the customs and traditions of the old Constabulary. The officers continued to behave as if the PNP were still a military organization up to the present. During the Senate hearing on the so-called ninja cops, this issue came out, prompting Senator Richard Gordon to ask PGeneral Oscar Albayalde whether the PNP is a civilian or military organization. During the course of interpellation, several issues, for instance that orders must be obeyed without question, were raised.
Senator Ping Lacson, himself a former military officer and PNP Chief, blurted out the phrase “ruling class” referring to the PMA class where the Chief PNP belongs. The “ruling class” thus is in control of the PNP at that particular period.
These two issues indicate a deeply rooted military culture still prevailing in the PNP. When Senator Richard Gordon raised the question, he pointed to PGeneral Oscar Albayalde that the constitution mandates that the PNP although national in scope, must be civilian in character.
Gordon was actually right. This issue as to whether the PNP is actually a military organization masquerading as a civilian organization is an issue that no one in the organization has addressed seriously since its inception. This is perhaps because in 1992 when the PNP came into being, the entire leadership of the PNP came from the Philippine Constabulary. The military customs and traditions have not changed much. Changing the ranks and designations did nothing to change anything.
Senator Gordon was struggling to understand why then Senior Superintendent Oscar Albayalde did not raise any objections when he was relieved as Provincial Director of Pampanga in 2013 if he did nothing wrong. In a truly civilian organization, this indeed should have been done but for Albayalde, prudence was the better part of valor. Had he complained, he most certainly would have been in deeper trouble, so he simply kept quiet and said nothing and hoped that the issue would blow away soon which was what happened and he was soon back in harness.
There were some officers in the past who did question relief orders from higher headquarters but ended being frozen without assignments for much longer time. Given the culture existing in the PNP, Albayalde did the right thing.
Make no mistake about it: Even with those civilian sounding designations, the PNP is still a military organization unless a sincere effort is undertaken to start changing the military customs that are still practiced in the organization. By 2023, there will no longer be any Philippine Military Academy graduate left in the PNP. The officer corps will mostly consists of graduates from the Philippine National Police Academy and those that are laterally absorbed from the rank and file.
The PNPA, however, is a clone of the PMA. A bad clone, but a clone nonetheless. So, whether a change can be started beginning 2023 is at best doubtful. Besides what exactly does the term civilian in character mean? Would a quasi-military type organization much like the old Constabulary suffice or a police force akin to the New York Police be what we are aspiring for?
Whatever it is, it must be an organized, trained and equipped to grapple with all the many law and order threats that is plaguing the country. We have to remember that we have a 50-year-old communist insurgency still going on, the Abu Sayyaf, ISIS affiliated groups, and the many Muslim armed groups in the south that are still causing so much headache to the country. All these threats cannot be simply handled by a New York-type police force. This is perhaps the reason why some leaders, notably President Duterte, are nostalgic about reactivating the old Philippine Constabulary as a better police force to handle our internal security threats.
The next generation of PNP leaders should spend more time pondering this issue of police identity. Being able to define the character of a police force will go a long way in eventually establishing the identity and character of the organization. Unless this is done, the PNP will be left with no definitive character on which doctrines and culture can evolved. Past PNP leaders—including those of my generation—have failed to see this issue as deserving of attention. Still, it is extremely important. It took a civilian who happens to be senator of the realm to notice the apparent contradictory character of the organization and raised it when questioning PGeneral Albayalde.
* * *
With PGeneral voluntarily relinquishing his position as Chief PNP and going on non-duty status prior to his retirement on Nov. 8, the PNP as an organization can have a new beginning.
At least this is the hope of many in the PNP and those who have already retired like myself. Controversy involving the chief of the organization is nothing new. This has happened before. What is important is that the organization is composed of men and women who are upright and who have no other motive but to serve the country.