A chief of police in Rizal province was relieved from his post over what Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III referred to as lazy way of dealing with complaints and request for assistance.
Torre himself announced the relief of the police commander and disclosed that it had something to do with a case of robbery filed before the police station involving around P600,000.
He narrated that the policemen in a city in Rizal did not exert extra effort to locate at least two people who were accused of stealing the money from the businessman and instead, settled for classifying the case as a solved one since a criminal case would be filed against them.
“The employees suddenly disappeared with P600,000. The employers knew where they would be going because they were their long time employees. Initially, there was no effort on the part of the police,” said Torre.
He said the two suspects were only arrested in a province in Negros Island Region after the coordination that he ordered with the local police.
“They did not even bother to coordinate. There was no effort on their part and they only acted after they were cautioned,” he said.
Such lazy way of dealing with those seeking for assistance is unacceptable, according to Torre as he emphasized that the case should have been set as a good example of the result of the interconnectivity of all police forces via 911.
Instead, the local police settled for the old ways of doing it.
“I have to put my foot down to these inefficiencies that we observe. Our kababayans do not deserve those kinds of services,” said Torre in explaining why he sacked the chief of police in Rizal.
“We are the national police and we have been telling the people that we are interconnected. All they have to do is dial 911, everybody knows that except one of my men, a chief of police. I cannot allow that,” he added.
Earlier, eight police commanders in Metro Manila were sacked from their posts after their men failed to respond to the five-minute call for assistance.
And on Monday, June 30, Torre said he may declare three positions in Bicol vacant for failure of the commanders to properly supervise their men.
“I am always emphasizing to our commanders on the ground that the best way for you to prove that you are really the commander is to give the command not only figuratively but also literally,” said Torre.
“Commanders on the ground must have contact with their units. What kind of commander are you if you have no contact with your units?” he said. (Aaron Recuenco)
