BY GILBERT P. PBAYORAN
The campaign against erring personnel of the Philippine National Police led to the dismissal of 4,500 cops from the service, since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016, Lt. Gen. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, PNP deputy chief for Operations, said yesterday.
Binag, who was the guest of honor and speaker at the blessing of St. Michael The Archangel Chapel of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City, said 8,000 police personnel were also suspended for various offenses.
“We have been performing non-stop in our internal cleansing programs,” Binag said. “Kung magkamali ka, dismissal ka or suspension (If you commit infractions, either you will be suspended or dismissed),” he stressed.
More than 16,000 police personnel were investigated for various offenses by the PNP since 2016, he added.
The PNP is also looking at holding anger management counseling for its personnel following the shooting incident involving a policeman, identified as Senior Master Sgt. Jonel Nuezca, that led to the deaths of a mother and her son in Tarlac on Sunday. Binag has condemned the actions of Nuezca, stressing again that the PNP will not tolerate it.*
