Nartatez denies PNP ‘quota’ arrests, only intel-driven policing

Acting Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Monday denied that the police force is implementing “quota arrests,” distancing himself from a controversial policy reportedly introduced by his predecessor, Gen. Nicolas Torre III.

“There’s no such thing as quota arrests,” Nartatez told reporters during a media briefing at the Camp Crame in Quezon City.

He underscored that police operations are driven by intelligence information.

“Of course, our operations, our directive is based on data and records,” he said. 

“We sent out priority intelligence requirements and then from periodically or a daily basis on essential elements of information coming in, and we process that and that intelligence information, investigation information, those are the basis of our operations,” he added. 

His statement comes in response to an earlier statement from detainee rights advocacy group, Kapatid, which earlier urged Nartatez to “rescind” Torre’s directive of using arrest numbers as a metric for police promotions.

The group lamented that “quota arrests only worsen impunity and jail congestion without truly addressing crime.”

Nartatez emphasized that while arresting wanted persons remains a core function of police work, it must be guided by reliable data and operational intelligence and not numerical targets.

“For example, the DIDM (Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management), we have data on the number of wanted persons. So how can we assign quotas, like a hundred or so? What we are doing is tracking down those who are actually wanted and arresting them,” he explained.

The PNP chief also addressed the ongoing anti-drug campaign, saying he would continue “enhanced management of police operations” against illegal drugs, while remaining open to revisiting and revising operational plans as needed.

Nartatez made the statements following his first command conference last Friday, attended by 18 regional directors and other senior police officials. 

He formally took over as acting PNP chief on 26 August, after the abrupt relief of Gen. Torre.