PNP, Napolcom vow stricter vetting for aspiring officers
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. and National Police Commission (Napolcom) leaders pledged Monday to enforce stricter vetting standards for recruitment to ensure only qualified and disciplined applicants enter the police service.
The policy shift follows directives from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, as well as recurring reports of criminology interns violating basic traffic regulations, including riding motorcycles without helmets and operating vehicles with unauthorized license plates.
Nartatez stated that screening out applicants with questionable character during the early stages of recruitment is essential to protecting the organization’s integrity.
“As a law enforcement agency, the Philippine National Police will protect itself from applicants with highly questionable background and character,” Nartatez said.
“There is no room for future policemen who cannot even observe and respect the simplest rules and regulations,” he added.
Nartatez added that while the PNP maintains formal evaluation procedures, background checks will increasingly incorporate public reports and social media information provided by citizens.
He urged higher education institutions offering criminology programs to ensure their graduates are morally fit before recommending them for police service.
During a press briefing at the Napolcom Central Office in Quezon City, Commissioner Rafael Vicente R. Calinisan presented a uniformed criminology intern who was photographed riding a motorcycle without a helmet.
Calinisan warned that erring interns face disqualification from processing and will be barred from taking the police entrance examinations.
“Our job is to filter applicants and provide the best police officers to the Filipino public,” Calinisan said. “This is not just about a traffic violation. This is about a person’s character, values, and fitness to serve and protect the public.”
Calinisan called for structural reforms in criminology education, closer scrutiny of review centers, and enhanced values formation to prevent abusive individuals from entering the force.
He cited that Napolcom is exercising its constitutional mandate to administer and control the PNP by implementing stricter entry controls.
Meantime, Philippine College of Criminology president Lei Bautista attended the briefing and expressed full support for Napolcom’s reform agenda, confirming that institutional handbooks mandate strict adherence to traffic laws and that school administrators act promptly on reported infractions.