Bato: Cops who refused transfer to Basilan face dismissal

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa on Monday said the more than 200 police officers who failed to report for duty and refused to be transferred to Basilan will automatically be dismissed from service.

"Automatic, they will ultimately be dismissed from the service,” Dela Rosa said in a press conference.

He, however, said due process will still be observed in the dismissal of the concerned policemen.

"Kailangan due process. Padalahan sila ng letter doon sa pamamahay nila informing them na sila ay hindi nag-report sa kanilang duty. Due process talaga para hindi sila makabalik kapag tinanggal natin sila sa serbisyo," Dela Rosa said.

He said failure of the PNP to give due process usually leads to the reinstatement of the erring police officers.

"Ang kanilang usual na butas na pinapasukan, claim nila they were denied of due process. Sa amin what is due process they must be properly informed," he said.

Among the charges to be filed against those who failed to report to Basilan were insubordination and absence without leave aside from the original complaint they were facing.

Dela Rosa said the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) regional police director writes three letters with five days interval each to the erring police officers to inform them of their transgressions.

Dela Rosa insisted that the national headquarters did not err in ordering the transfer of police officers to Basilan.

"Hindi naman siguro ganun ka-foolish yung PNP para itapon ‘yung tao doon na walang kasalanan. We have made a series of validation, check and re-check all the list, tinitingnan namin bago namin finalize," he said.

He said that while it may be true that no complaints have been formally filed against the erring police officers, that does not mean they did nothing wrong.

"Totoo naman talagang wala silang kaso dahil takot yung mga complainant mag-file ng kaso, pero open secret sa kanilang unit na itong mga taong ito ay may ginagawang kalokohan,” he said.

"So we don't need to wait for complainants to come. Ang sa amin lang ‘yung aming counter intelligence report ay validated na sila ay nangongotong, may ginagawang kalokohan kaya sila pinadala doon, to stop them from further continuing their offense,” he added.

He also chided the police from Metro Manila for disobeying the transfer order.

"'Yung mga taga-Metro Manila they don’t want to go away from their comfort zone. Gusto nila gawin lang silang Quezon City National Police or Manila National Police, hindi Philippine National Police, ‘yan ang gusto nila," said.

On the other hand, he lauded the police officers from Baguio who followed the order.

Dela Rosa, in his speech during the 80th charter day of Zamboanga City on Sunday, said erring police from Basilan can also be brought to Luzon the same way those in Metro Manila were brought to the southern Philippine province.

He, however, insisted that disciplined police officers still outnumber rogue ones. —KBK, GMA News