ALL 30 personnel of the Mandaue City Police Station 1 have been relieved for failing to comply with the intensified cleanliness policy (ICP) of Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar.
One of the ICP’s main thrusts is ensuring cleanliness in all PNP precincts, stations and offices.
According to Police Regional Office 7 Director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo, members of the National Internal Affairs Service inspected the station and discovered that not only was it dirty outside, but it was also dirty inside.
He said the front yard was littered with droppings of stray dogs, while laundry hung on the clothesline outside for all visitors to see.
“Those were just among the many violations the inspectors found,” Montejo said in Cebuano.
He said the station had been issued a warning prior to the inspection, but it looked like Maj. Eric Gingoyon, the station’s chief, didn’t take it seriously.
Members of the City Mobile Force Company were among the relieved personnel, who are all currently assigned in the holding unit of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO).
Aside from having to undergo a transformation program, they also have to clean police stations in the city every morning.
“I instructed the city director that they have to clean during the first hour of the morning so they will learn how to. The other day, they cleaned Station 1, then Station 2, then Station 3 until they finish cleaning all the stations in the city and then they will also clean other offices of the MCPO,” Montejo said in Cebuano.
After their cleaning chores, they have to exercise and attend a seminar while the investigation against them is ongoing, he added.
Montejo explained that Eleazar’s ICP complements the aggressive internal cleansing of scalawag cops launched by the Duterte administration.
According to the Philippine News Agency website, “another main objective of the ICP is the reform in the recruitment system to protect the PNP from erring cops and break the culture of wrongdoings among the ranks.
Meanwhile, Montejo said he implemented the KKK 7 program, or the “Kahapsay ug Kalimpyo sa Kampo 7,” even before Eleazar assumed the post of PNP chief, where he directed the Internal Affairs Service to check the state of all police stations in Central Visayas.
He said many police stations did not pass the inspection, including the Mandaue City Police Station 1.
He said he gave Police Station 1 two chances to clean its surroundings and the interior, but when Camp Crame went there to check, nothing had changed.
That’s when he decided to relieve the station’s personnel.
He said their punishment should serve as a lesson not to ignore a superior’s directive, especially one that is central to the PNP chief’s programs.
Montejo said keeping a station clean is not only for the police personnel’s own good but also for the good of customers who have business with the station.
He said everything should be in place when the station receives visitors. (AYB/PJB)