VOTING 166-6 without abstention, Congress has approved on third and final reading House Bill 5236 seeking to modify the rank classification of uniformed personnel in the Philippine National Police through the adoption of rank classification used in the military establishment for purposes of clarity of position and responsibility.
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, chairman of the committee on public order and safety, authored the bill that would foresee an effective and efficient administration and supervision in the PNP through modification of the rank classification of the organization’s uniformed personnel.
To fulfill the modification, the bill provides for the amendment of Section 28 of Republic Act No. 6975, otherwise known as the “Department of Interior and Local Government Act of 1990.”
The PNP rank classification shall be as general from director general, lieutenant general from deputy director general, major general from director, brigadier general from chief superintendent, colonel from senior superintendent, lieutenant colonel from superintendent, major from chief inspector, captain from senior inspector and lieutenant from inspector.
Others are master sergeant from senior police officer 4, technical sergeant from senior police officer 3, staff sergeant from senior police officer 2, sergeant from senior police officer 1, corporal from police officer 3, patrolman first class from police officer 2 and patrolman from police officer I.
Acop said the bill aims is to address public confusion on the present rank of PNP officers with the use of such terms as “superintendent” and “inspector” which were borrowed primarily from Western and European jurisdictions.
“Despite the usage of such terms for the last 20 years, the public seems to have been more accustomed to the use of rank classification using military terminologies, such as general, colonel or sergeant as previously used in the police force,” he said.
Acop is a retired police general.
The adoption of the military rank classification for the police force also promotes a common understanding between and among the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP, and would enhance their efficiency in inter-agency operations.
