No missing ‘case folders’ at NCR, says PNP

The Philippine National Police on Tuesday clarified that there are no missing case folders of erring police officers in Metro Manila.

PNP information chief and spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo stressed that there were no missing case folders as per her discussion with Regional Personnel and Records Management Division chief Col. Rodel Pastor.

Fajardo’s statements are contrary to the earlier statement of National Capital Region Police Office regional director Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., who disclosed that there were missing case folders which belong to cops who were slapped with administrative cases.

“He told me about their office, particularly the Discipline Law and Order Section, the repository of our admin case folders.

What happened was there were people who moved offices and the personnel who handled these case folders were also different,” Fajardo said. “So the real problem here was that there was no proper turnover,” she added.

To recall, Nartatez said that since he took over as NCRPO chief in July 2023, some 300 erring cops have been dismissed from the service.

Since July 2023, the NCRPO resolved a total of 800 administrative cases which resulted to the dismissal of around 300 erring police personnel.

Nartatez has also ordered an investigation into the matter, focusing on the possibility that the errant cops are in cahoots with some police officers handling administrative matters in the NCRPO.

This prompted PNP chief Police General Benjamin Acorda Jr. to order the conduct of accounting of all case folders in all police regional offices.

Acorda said they are not discounting the possibility that the same modus also happened in other regional offices.

“We are assuming that there are similar incidents in other regions. Those record holders should be held

accountable because documents such as these are important and no document should be missing or even the entire case folders,” he said.

Acorda also tasked regional directors to come up with a system that comes with monitoring the transfer of documents from one person or office to another to come up with the best paper trail in worse-case scenarios.

Fajardo said Acorda’s order remains in effect, adding that the PNP has a database of all administrative cases of erring cops.

From 20 July 2022 to 10 January 2024 a total of 3,998 administrative cases of erring cops from all over the country have been resolved by the PNP which resulted in the dismissal of 991 police personnel including 65 who tested positive of illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, Fajardo said that six members of Manila Police District were relieved from their post in connection with the viral video where man who tried to rob a jeepney driver was arrested following a standoff with police in Sta. Mesa, Manila last Friday.

She added that MPD district director Col. Thomas Ibay has ordered to conduct probe into the incident to see some lapses and look at whether there is a lack of training of some cops to undergo orientations, refresher courses for the PNP personnel on how to respond to same incidents