From his Facebook account, Senatorial Candidate Rafael "Raffy" Alunan III (#3) shared some of his thoughts on the relationship between the PNP and Local Government.
The younger voters may not recall that Senatorial Candidate Rafael "Raffy" Alunan III (#3) has had previous experience in serving the government as Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government 1992-1996 and Chairman of the National Police Commission.
This is Mr. Alunan's point of view :
The Philippine National Police is a national organisation. It is by law under the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), the chairman of which is the DILG Secretary.
The NAPOLCOM has ADMINISTRATIVE control of the PNP, meaning it has the sole power to hire, fire and deploy its personnel anywhere in the country. The Local Government Units (LGU'S), by law, have OPERATIONAL control and supervision of the police assigned to their localities to address their peace and order problems.
This division of labor has vexed both the DILG-NAPOLCOM and the LGU's. A tug-of-war over administrative sanctions has created fissures between them and dysfunctions in the peace and order campaigns. Erring or deserving policemen are coddled or neglected by either side, raising the bar of friction and tension that paralyzes the police force.
Solution is to review the Local Government Code and the PNP Law on on the one hand, and to strengthen the institution on the other hand by weeding out all the scalawags and professionalizing the force, in conjunction with the reform of the criminal justice system.
I favor a Constabulary force to address insurgency, terrorism and transnational crimes under the DILG-NAPOLCOM, and a local police force hired and fired by the local government units. This is a good starting point to get a national conversation going, hopefully, leading to better suggestions and consensus.
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