JINGGOY WANTS POLICE ACADEMY PLACED UNDER PNP CONTROL

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada wants police training institutions placed at the helm of the primary peacekeeping and law enforcement organization, which will eventually dispatch and employ the uniformed personnel into action.

Sen. Estrada filed Senate Bill 3218 which seeks to amend the Republic Act 6975 or the Department of Interior and Local Government Act of 1990, and to transfer the administrative supervision and operational control of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), Philippine National Training Institute (PNTI) and the National Police College (NPC) from the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

"The current setup has proven to be ineffective and costly. It allows lapses in coordination of training programs and makes it difficult to develop a system of well-developed plan and budget for trainings internal to the PNP," Sen. Estrada explains, adding:

"There is also a mismatch between the PNP training expectations and requirements and the actual services provided by the PPSC."

Currently, the PPSC is considered the premier educational institution for the training, human resource development and continuing education of all personnel of the PNP, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Apart from PNPA, PNTI and NPC, PPSC also has supervision over the Fire Training Center and other special training centers as may be created by the DILG. PPSC is tasked to formulate and implement training programs for the personnel of the DILG.

"The ineffectiveness and inefficiency in the structure and system frequently result in unnecessary cost and waste of resources and efforts because the PNP would often conduct its own re-orientation and specialization training programs, thus duplicating those already undertaken by the PPSC," Sen. Estrada points out.

Sen. Estrada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, believes that the move will warrant that the police force is properly trained to perform their functions of maintaining peace and order, preventing crimes, ensuring public safety and generally protecting lives and properties.

On a related note, the Upper Chamber approved on Second Reading on Tuesday Senate Bill 3204 aimed at strengthening the PPSC system as an educational institution for training of fire and jail personnel, with the Committee on Education, Arts and Culture adopting the proposal of Sen. Estrada, effectively removing police training under PPSC.

Sen. Estrada was then recognized as co-author and co-sponsor of the measure.