PNP top-heavy with 35 excess generals
Creating excess positions and using realigned savings to fund them by the PNP leadership is prohibited by law, the DILG insiders said
Daily TribuneCreating excess positions and using realigned savings to fund them by the PNP leadership is prohibited by law, the DILG insiders said
The Philippine National Police has been spending P26.7 billion each year to pay for the salaries and benefits of 66,203 personnel holding positions not authorized by the Department of Budget and Management.
A DBM-approved rank distribution matrix it submitted to the Department of the Interior and Local Government showed the PNP to be a top-heavy organization with 35 excess generals.
Of the 35 unauthorized flag positions, five were for lieutenant general, six for major general, and 24 for brigadier general. For full colonels, 232 excess assignments were noted by the DBM, as well as 910 for lieutenant colonel, 1,410 for major, and 1,835 for captain.
The excess number of commissioned officers totaled 4,422.
The matrix submitted by DBM Bureau Director Mary Anne de la Vega showed that the DBM-approved rank distribution did not match the actual strength and distribution of ranks in the PNP.
PNP chief General Benjamin Acorda has yet to issue a statement regarding the discrepancy at press time.
Illegal postings
Meanwhile, DILG sources said the excess positions, which went beyond the DBM-authorized number of personnel, were "illegal."
The unauthorized posts were flagged by the DBM even as the PNP has 77,190 unfilled positions, including 66,958 for rookie cops with the rank of patrolman and patrolwoman.
The same sources pointed out that DBM-authorized positions for rookie police officers stood at 129,926, but PNP records, as of 30 June 2023, showed there were only 62,968 new cops.
There is a combined budget of P23.8 billion for the recruitment of new cops that has gone unspent.
"This explains why we severely lack police visibility in our communities. And this has an adverse effect on the overall campaign to preserve peace and order, as well as in protecting people from crime," said a DILG insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Other PNP ranks that remain unfilled are for lieutenant, 1,066 openings; executive master sergeant, 2,382; chief master sergeant, 3,878; senior master sergeant, 463, and master sergeant, 2,443.
For star-rank positions, the DBM allows only three for lieutenant general against the present eight, for major general only 11 against the current 17, and for brigadier general only 86 against the 110 currently holding the post.
Napolcom recommendation
The DBM authorizes only 624 colonels, but the PNP has 856, and only 2,000 lieutenant colonels vis-a-vis the current 2,910.
In a letter to Secretary Benhur Abalos of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the DBM stressed that changes in the PNP's organizational structure should be supported by a study and recommendation by the National Police Commission.
It added that the Napolcom recommendation should "include its impact on the hierarchy and leadership structure of the organization," subject to the President's approval.
Napolcom vice chair, Commissioner Alberto Bernardo, was furnished a copy of the letter to the DILG but he could not be reached for comment.
Creating excess positions and using realigned savings to fund them by the PNP leadership is prohibited by law, the DILG insiders said.
"While the Napolcom is duty-bound to advise the President on all matters relating to police functions and administration, it cannot recommend to the President the promotion of third-level PNP officers to excess and prohibited positions," the DILG sources explained.