Bill removing excess roadblocks in cop promotion gains ground

MANILA, Philippines - A bill seeking to remove unnecessary obstacles to promotion of the Philippine National Police officers gained ground in the Senate as the Ombudsman and police posed no objection to it. The bill filed by former Philippine National Police chief and opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson seeks to give deserving police officers more "leeway" in their promotion. "Ang mga resource persons, pati Ombudsman and CHR, they are very supportive sa bill para mabigyan hustisya ang deserving PNP officers (Our resource persons including those from the Ombudsman and Commission on Human Rights were very supportive of the bill to give justice to deserving PNP officers)," he said. Under Lacson's Senate Bill 2429, a PNP member can be denied promotion if there is a finding of probable cause against him or her. Mere filing of an administrative or criminal complaint should not be a bar for promotion, should the bill be passed into law. Lacson cited the case of Sr. Supt. Paul Mascariñas, who was promoted to Chief Superintendent despite facing a kidnap complaint from ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. Mascariñas was tagged as one of the policemen who "fetched" Lozada upon his arrival from Hong Kong last February. In contrast, Lacson said Quezon City police chief Sr. Supt. Magtanggol Gatdula could not earn a promotion because he has a pending case dating back to 2001. The case supposedly involved the "improper" turnover of a wiretap machine procured in 2000. "That's why I'm appealing to the chairman to fast-track passage of the bill to give justice to 1 person I know, Sr. Supt. Gatdula," Lacson said. - GMANews.TV