5,321 recruits join the PNP

The Philippine National Police (PNP) welcomed to its ranks 5,321 newly inducted policemen, officials said on Wednesday (July 4).

According to PNP spokesperson Senior Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr., the new recruits will meet the requirements of their regional offices for “more warm bodies for police visibility and anti-crime operations.”

Said recruitment is also part of the 2012 Regular Attrition Recruitment Program, which serves the purpose of replacing officers leaving the service due to retirement, resignation, and dismissal. Cerbo stated that an average of 2,500 to 3,000 PNP members retire every year.

Formalizing the appointment of new recruits as Police Officer 1 were simultaneous oath-taking ceremonies conducted in 17 police regional offices around the country within the week, Cerbo said. As PO1, they will receive a basic monthly salary of Php14,834, together with allowances and other non-cash benefits.

Prior to the oath-taking, the new recruits completed PNP’s various recruitment processes, including neuropsychiatric screening; physical agility test, random drug tests, complete background investigation; physical, medical and dental examination; and eligibility exams. But a random drug test is further conducted anytime during the entire period of recruitment processing and training, he further said.

Upon their appointment to the PNP, the new recruits will undergo a mandatory course called Public Safety Basic Recruit Course at the Police National Training Institute for six months. Then another six months of Field Training Program before being assigned to their “full duty status in the Regional Public Safety Battalion in the Police Regional Offices.”

Among the new officers, 4,349 are men and 972 are women, said Director Elpidio De Asis, PNP Director for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM). He said in a report that “a pool of 796 Excess Qualified Applicants has been mustered by some Police Regional Offices that have completely filled-up their recruitment quota.”

With this, PNP Chief Nicanor Bartolome instructed De Asis to realign the excess pool to “fill up vacancies in the two newly activated tactical battalions of the Special Action Force and the Special Boat Unit of the PNP Maritime Group.”

As part of the said recruitment program, Cerbo said the National Police Commission has authorized PNP to recruit 6,000 police personnel in 2012, leaving 679 vacancies unfilled in this year’s recruitment.

The addition of new recruits boosted the total members of the PNP personnel to 147,032.