AN ADMINISTRATION that conducted an internal cleansing program among police ranks by getting rid of scalawag cops means business.
It was the only way it could gain credibility and garner support for its bloody campaign against criminality. It had to show the public that it would not tolerate members involved in any illegal activities.
When Gen. Guillermo Eleazar was appointed chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in May this year, he took it further by launching his intensified cleanliness policy, which is aimed at “correcting minor and small problems in the service.”
One of its thrusts is to ensure that all PNP precincts, stations and offices are clean.
According to him, a station that is orderly, that smells pleasant, that doesn’t have cigarette butts on the floor will gain the respect of the public.
However, General Eleazar was not the first to come up with the idea.
Police Regional Office 7 Director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo had implemented a similar program earlier and dubbed it KKK 7, or “Kahapsay ug Kalimpyo sa Kampo 7,” where he ordered the Internal Affairs Service to go around Central Visayas and check the state of police stations.
Many stations were found to be “dirty” and were given a chance to address the situation. Montejo had warned station chiefs of repercussions if they didn’t rectify the matter.
The Mandaue City Police Station 1 in Barangay Centro, which is headed by Maj. Eric Gingoyon, was one such station.
The major must have had his hands full with other concerns because when members of the Internal Affairs Service from Camp Crame visited the station, they found “droppings in the front yard, stray dogs wandering in and out and laundry hanging in the clothesline outside.”
The discovery must have been a slap on Montejo’s KKK 7 program not to mention the PNP chief’s intensified cleanliness policy, which is why he recently ordered the relief of all 30 personnel of the station, which included members of the City Mobile Force Company.
As punishment, the relieved cops have to clean stations in the city as well as undergo a transformation program while the investigation against them is ongoing.
It is not known what fate awaits them. However, it would be such a shame if they end up losing their jobs because they failed to keep their workplace clean. On the other hand, police chiefs nationwide now know what will happen to them and their men if they don’t implement the PNP chief’s policy.