SEN. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa yesterday said the Interior Department should monitor the activities of the members of the police appellate boards to find out if the reinstatement of dismissed cops is being done the right way.
In an interview with DZBB, Dela Rosa wondered why dismissed policemen managed to return to the service despite overwhelming evidence against them.
Dela Rosa said during his time as PNP chief, he ordered the dismissal of several “ninja cops” but later learned they were able to get back in the police service after filing an appeal before the appellate boards.
While filing an appeal is part of due process, he said it is interesting that a number of cops involved in selling illegal drugs have been reinstated.
“The appellate boards which entertain appeals of dismissed cops should be monitored.
Maybe the people there also need to undergo an internal cleansing program — the people in the national appellate board and those in the regional appellate board. We need to find out why they (dismissed cops) were reinstated,” Dela Rosa said.
The National Appellate Board is under the National Police Commission, an attached agency of the DILG.
The NAB decides cases on appeal from decisions rendered by the PNP chief where the penalty imposed is a demotion in rank or dismissal from service. It consists of four divisions, with each division composed of a commissioner and two members.
Dela Rosa made the remark as the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs that he chairs conducted a hearing on the case of Jehrod “Jemboy” Baltazar, 17, who was shot dead by members of the Navotas City Police Station in a case of mistaken identity.
Dela Rosa said the involvement of the Navotas CPS in the killing of Baltazar was an “isolated case” but added that similar incidents need to be addressed by the PNP as “that will bring down the reputation of the PNP as a whole.”
He said the internal cleansing program of the PNP is continuing after Col. Cesar Gerente, the former chief of the Mandaluyong City Police Station, was ordered relieved from his post after he tested positive for illegal drug use.
Gerente was charged with conduct unbecoming of a police officer.
Dela Rosa said the PNP leadership should “go beyond” internal cleansing and must monitor if dismissed cops have been trying to get back to the service.
He recalled that dismissed “ninja cops” waited for his retirement from the police service before filing an appeal to be reinstated.
“Internal cleansing should go beyond the removal and filing of cases. The PNP should keep an eye on dismissed cops to determine if they have been reinstated,” he added.
He said filing an appeal is the right of a dismissed police officer but wondered why cops who committed grave offenses such as selling illegal drugs still got reinstated.
