DILG chief orders review of all ‘traditions’ among PNPA cadets

Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año has ordered the review of all "traditions" of Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) cadets following the mauling incident of six fresh graduates of Maragtas Class of 2018.

Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) president Ricardo de Leon and PNPA director Chief Superintendent Joseph Adnol were also directed to "institute the necessary systematic reforms that will put a stop to these practices."

Año also approved the recommendation of the board of inquiry formed to investigate the mauling incident that there should be more uniformed officers who will "closely supervise" the activities of the cadets, adding that they "shall be given preferential option when opportunities for promotion arise within the uniformed sector."

"Serving our country by training the cadets is equally valiant and important as maintaining peace and order, monitoring inmates, or suppressing and preventing fire. We should assign the best and the brightest of our public safety officers to the PNPA and they should be given additional points if they accept the challenge," Año said in a press release.

Uniformed personnel, according to Año, preferred to be assigned to the field rather than train cadets since they were "either sidetracked or left behind when it comes to promotion opportunities."

There are only four uniformed officers who are assigned at the PNPA Cadet Affairs Office according to National Police College director Romeo Magsalos. These officers supervise cadets, which means that each of them has to monitor over 200 cadets.

Año, a cum laude graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, said there is a dire need of "more role models and mentors who walk the talk to impart their experiences and learnings to the next generation of public safety officers."

"Our uniformed men and women who accept the challenge to mentor these aspiring cadets should not be left behind in terms of promotion," he said.  

The DILG chief said he would also be personally visiting the PNPA later this month to "hold a dialogue with the Regimental Commander of the Corps of the Cadets, his staff, the class presidents, and the PNPA senior officials including the Commandant of Cadets to ensure that reforms are being implemented to end these practices."

“I am saddened by this turn of events in the PNPA. I have been assured that this won’t happen again but I intend to find out for myself if reforms are being done and what support we can give to the PNPA to make it a world-class institution," Año said.

The board of inquiry on April 3 bared that the underclassmen implicated in the incident seemed to have "blindly followed" some "misguided cadets."

Magsalos, who is the chairman of the board of inquiry, said that this small group of misguided cadets had "threatened" the underclassmen that they would be "inflicted with harm" if they did not follow their orders."

Aside from this, the board created by PPSC, also found that there was a "failure to effect arrest and cause inquest proceeding of the perpetrator.

The board said that the new inspectors who did not file a complaint have the "tendency to accept the harm inflicted by the underclass."

"Two of them are forgiving because yung iba hindi na nag-file ng kaso except na yung dalawa na talagang they pursued a case," Magsalos told reporters in an interview.

Probers also found that there was a lack of uniformed personnel to "closely supervise"the activities of the cadets, adding that security guards deployed were “prohibited to access the dormitories.”

As a result of the investigation, the board has recommended the following in order to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident:

• all activities of the corps of cadets should be sanctioned by the duly constituted authorities of the PNPA and should be closely supervised by the Cadet Affairs Office (CAO). In no instance shall any "secret rituals" involving cadets be conducted;
• as a deterrence to misconduct, neglect and undesirable behavior, the PNPA should actively prosecute offenses amounting to criminal acts before the regular courts;
• to strengthen the espirit de corps among the cadets;
• increase the capacity of the PNPA to closely monitor cadet activities; and
• seek the intervention of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government for the implementation of the policy where deployment to training units under the PPSC is considered as a Table of Organization position.

Six new PNPA graduates were beaten-up by their underclassmen right after their graduation rites attended by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 21. The incident occurred between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. when the upperclassmen were going back to their barracks after the graduation rites.

The underclassmen even used rattan sticks and rocks when they mauled the newly-commissioned officers who suffered injuries.

In a police report from Silang Municipal Police Station, the victims were identified as Police Inspectors Lambenecio, Divino, Mark Kevin Villares, Floyd Traqueña, Jan Paul Magmoyao and Jail Inspector Arjay Marcaida Cuasay.

Based on PNPA's initial investigation, PNPA director Chief Superintendent Joseph Adnol said that the underclassmen may have wanted to "get even" with the upperclassmen.

The board of inquiry said that 44 cadets have been administratively charged for their alleged involvement on beating-up six newly-graduated cadets.

PPSC Inspectorate and Legal Office chief lawyer Jayson Ison, who is the designated vice chairman of the board, said that 20 underclassmen were charged with grave misconduct while 24 others were charged with neglect of duty. — RSJ, GMA News