DILG chief eyes trimming number of police generals by nearly 80%

Metro Manila, Philippines – Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Tuesday he wanted to cut the number of police generals from over 130 to 25 as part of reforms in the national police.

In a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 22, Remulla said he made the recommendation to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about the structural change to ‘flatten’ the ‘top-heavy organization.’

The interior chief said he is coordinating with the University of the Philippines College of Public Administration to study the reform, which would require amendments to the Philippine National Police law.

“There are a lot of generals without commands. Mayroon tayong APC, area police commands, na wala naman tao sa ilalim nila. So marami tayong lugar na redundancies na kailangan i-trim down. It's a 32-year-old law na kailangan bisitahin ulit,” Remulla said.

[Translation: There are a lot of generals without commands. We have area police commands that don’t have personnel under them. So we have many areas of redundancy that need to be trimmed down. It's a 32-year-old law that needs to be revisited]

Remulla said reducing the number of police generals would mean modifying the promotion process.

“Nasa PNP law kasi iyon e kasi they function on civil service rules na every three years ang promotion. So kung qualified sila, promoted sila. Promote ng promote. So we want to change it to make it five years para bumagal iyong promotion,” he said.

[Translation: That's in the PNP (Philippine National Police) law because they function under civil service rules where promotions happen every three years. So if they’re qualified, they get promoted. It's a continuous cycle. We want to change it to make it five years to slow down the promotion process.]

National police chief PGen Rommel Marbil earlier appealed to lawmakers to amend the Republic Act 6795, which amended the PNP law.

Marbil said he wants a “flatter and more streamlined structure” for the police force to “improve accountability” and “promote better communication across all ranks.”

In July, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed a measure seeking organizational reforms in the police as the provisions “run counter to administrative policy and efficiency.’

NewsWatch Plus correspondent Lance Mejico contributed to this report