MindanaoToday.com | Over two dozens of Normin police face complaints before Napolcom en banc
By: Uriel Quilinguin
Cagayan de Oro City – For over two years, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) Regional Office 10 has elevated to its Commission En Banc more than 20 complaints against alleged erring members of the Philippine National Police in Northern Mindanao (PNP Normin).
All of these cases, mostly involving charges of marital unfaithfulness, domestic violence, and lapses in law-enforcement operations, have been documented and heard by Napolcom 10, awaiting Commission En Banc’s decision.
Lawyer Ramon Alfredo Dela Cruz, Napolcom 10 assistant regional director, said decisions on complaints against respondent police personnel are expected to take time because their Commission En Banc handles all cases across 17 regions and convening its members cannot be done often.
As stipulated under Republic Act No. 6975 which created Napolcom and is an attached agency of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Commission En Banc is composed of three regular Napolcom commissioners, with the DILG secretary as ex-officio chairperson, and the PNP chief as ex-officio commissioner. A vice-chairperson and executive director is appointed by the President of the Philippines.
Dela Cruz, who joined Napolcom 10 in 2022, said he had handled a case where the decision was handed down by the Commission En Banc three months after it was endorsed for appropriate action, but considered it exceptional.
In 2021, Napolcom announced it has dismissed from the service 36 police officers due to administrative cases, demoted 18, suspended 10 ranging from 20 days to six months, and reprimanded three others.
The number of complaints docketted within the second quarter this year with the Napolcom 10 against abusive members of the police in the region, however, has gone down to single digits, from previous 40 to as high as 80 awaiting their attention, Dela Cruz said.
In a Kapihan sa PIA forum at Limketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro on Friday, July 26, the Napolcom 10 official said complaints of civilians against abusive police personnel may also be filed the People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB). These, he said, is part of the grievance machinery to ensure the police organization is of civilian character.
He said the PNP organization has its internal affairs service (IAS) at the national and regional levels that also handles complaints against erring personnel. Aggrieved persons would cite provisions of Republic Act No. 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees against the accused.
The Office of the Ombudsman handles cases of police personnel alleged to have been involved in graft and corruption, he said.
WAYS OF FILING
Written and sworn statement regarding a wrong, grievance or injury sustained by a person is the common way of filing a complaint before the Napolcom, but there are three other ways.
Lawyer Sittie Jafsah Azis, one of Napolcom 10 hearing officers, a complaint may be in the form of a written letter detailing what happened, a personal visit to verbally narrate the incident, and an anonymous complaint that is verifiable.
Azis said they help the complainants who personally visit them to put details in writing what was shared verbally. Investigators, she said, are sent out to trace and verify the veracity of anonymous complaints.
Meanwhile, lawyer Christine Mae Cabatingan, also a hearing officer, confirmed that most of the complaints brought to Napolcom 10 by civilians include those from wives of police personnel, ranging from extra-marital affairs, lack of financial support to family, physical abuse, and abandonment. There are also complaints non-payments of monetary obligations.
JURISDICTIONS
Cabatingan said Napolcom 10 has also been encouraging civilians to lodge complaints against abusive police personnel before the People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) to avoid the need to travel and spend filing the complaint to them in Cagayan de Oro.
Dela Cruz said that while Napolcom has concurrent jurisdiction on complaints against PNP personnel, they will leave these complaints to where these were filed—either at the PNP-10 Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS) or with the PLEB whose membership is appointed by the local executive with a resolution from the city or municipal council.
The PLEB is composed of five persons of proven probity and integrity—a city or municipal council member, a punong barangay, a women sector leader, a school administrator, and a respectable professional or college graduate, as stipulated under Section 43 of Republic Act 6579. (30)
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