New PNP chief Eleazar to rogue cops: You will hate me

"You will hate me."

This was the message newly-installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar had for erring police officers as he vowed to focus on the internal cleansing of the PNP.

Eleazar said he would not think twice about removing police officers who tainted the image of the PNP.

He said cops are often being branded as "pulis patola" or "kotong cops" because of the "few bad eggs" who compromised the integrity of the organization.

"For as long as I'm the chief PNP, every single centavo of your hard-earned money allocated to us will be in good hands," Eleazar said in his assumption speech.

"Sa mga natitirang hoodlum in police uniforms, sisiguraduhin ko sa inyo, you will hate me. Hindi ako magdadalawang-isip na magtanggal ng mga tiwaling pulis dahil sa laki ng sweldo na binibigay sa atin ng ating gobyerno at benepisyo, sigurado akong madaming gustong pumalit sa inyo," he added.

(To those remaining hoodlums in police uniforms, I promise you, you will hate me. I won't have second thoughts about firing corrupt police officers, especially given the significant salaries and benefits the government has given us. There are a lot of good cops out there ready to take your place.)

Eleazar said he expected every unit commander and team leader to exercise effective supervision of their men.

"Naniniwala ako na magdadalawang-isip gumawa ang sinumang pulis, maging 'yan man ay patrolman o patrolwoman, maging heneral, kung alam niya na siya ay di kukunsintihin ng kanyang commander, ng kanyang kasamahan at ng kanyang organisasyon," Eleazar said.

(I believe that any police officer, whether it be a patrolman or patrolwoman or even a police general, would have second thoughts about doing anything illegal if they knew that neither their commanders nor their fellow cops would tolerate such behavior.)

Eleazar is the 26th chief of the 220,000-strong Philippine National Police. — DVM, GMA News