PNP CHIEF Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr has ordered intensified counter-intelligence operations as part of his thrust to rid the 228,000-strong police force of erring personnel.
“I ordered the Intelligence Group, our RIDs (regional intelligence divisions), intelligence units to make sure that the counter-intelligence will work,” Acorda said in a radio interview on Wednesday.
“They are really going to make a report on policemen involved in irregularity and for sure this will affect their promotion and their placement,” he added.
Acorda, who took the helm of the PNP last Monday, urged the public to report to the PNP, especially to intelligence units, any policeman involved in illegal activities.
“I made it clear also to our commanders that the CI (counter intelligence) is also part of their job, meaning they should monitor their men,” he said.
Acorda also vowed that the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) and the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) will be empowered as part of the PNP’s internal cleansing program.
IMEG is the primary PNP unit going after erring policemen while IAS in charge of investigation on the administrative charges against policemen.
“IMEG and IAS are there, we are going to empower them. We are going to give them more teeth and really make the cases filed against our personnel strong so we can finally weed them out of the service,” said Acorda.
Acorda said one of his thrusts as PNP chief is the “quick and decisive” cleansing of PNP ranks. “We are really going to punish erring personnel but in a way that that we are not going to disrespect their uniform… But definitely we will be harsh to them especially if they are not going to change,” he said.
Acorda said there are only a few erring police personnel, noting he has been assigned to intelligence and counter-intelligence units before.
During last Tuesday’s command conference, Acorda said he “emphasized that recycling (of illegal drugs) is prohibited and it’s also prohibited to give drugs as rewards to informants.”
In October last year, PNP Drug Enforcement Group officials gave 42 kilos of shabu to informants who provided information that led to seizure of 990 kilos of shabu, worth P6.7 billion, during a raid of a money lending firm in Manila.
The pilfered shabu was later returned to the PNP after an initial probe on the incident.
