Almost 600 police generals, colonels filed resignation so far —Azurin

Close to 600 ranking police officers have filed their courtesy resignations so far in answer to Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos' appeal, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said Monday.

“As of yesterday, we were able to account more or less 500 to close to 600, as reported ng mga different regions, different units namin,” Azurin said in a press briefing.

“Bale, ‘yung iba dito is en route na papunta dito sa national headquarters because sila ang magko-collate lahat and then ipapasa ‘yan doon sa five-man committee that will be formed by no less than our commander-in-chief,” he added.

(Some of them are en route here to our national headquarters because they will collate everything and these will be passed to our five-man committee that will be formed by no less than our commander-in-chief.)

Last week, Abalos appealed to police generals and full colonels to submit their courtesy resignation as part of the government's efforts to rid the police force of officers involved in the illegal drug trade.

According to Azurin, the PNP is still expecting to receive around 456 resignations. He said they are expecting a total of 956 officials to file their courtesy resignations.

Meanwhile, asked if he will still be included in the investigation after his retirement in April this year, Azurin said, “Definitely.”

“Definitely, hangga't hindi ako na-clear [as long as I am not cleared],” he said.

5-member panel

A five-member committee will be formed the screen the resignations and this would include Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a retired police general.

“As to the other members, I am not yet privy or I do not have any idea kung natawagan na sila at in-accept na sila [if they've already been informed or if they've accepted the offer],” Azurin said.

Azurin said PNP demands the fairness and professionalism from the panel.

“Because, gaya nga ng sinabi natin [as I've said before], we are talking here of the career of senior officers ng PNP who worked very hard in the last 30 years or more of their service,” he said.

PNP spokesperson and Police Colonel Jean Fajardo echoed Azurin’s call in a separate public briefing.

“Once the committee has been convened, we hope that the assessment, review and evaluation will be speedy, fair and free of bias because such a process will make the results acceptable not only to the PNP officials but also to the public,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo then called on the public to reach out to the PNP if they have information on erring police officers and other illegal activities so that they can immediately take action.

“We welcome any information about involvement of the members of the police force in illegal activities. Reach out immediately to us and you need not worry about your security because we will ensure that you are safe and we will take action on your complaint,” Fajardo said.

“We won’t tolerate corruption in our ranks, and that is precisely why we are implementing the policy of courtesy resignation of senior officers so that they can serve as role models to lower-ranked officials,” she added.

Fajardo said the public can also reach out to the PNP online by accessing its website for e-sumbong services.

“You can access this through your mobile phones and computers, and rest assured your complaints will reach the national headquarters,” she said. —KBK/KG, GMA Integrated News