National Police Chief General Guillermo Eleazar assured on Wednesday that he would implement reforms and undertake internal cleansing in the Philippine National Police (PNP) amid a flurry of criticisms against the organization following the cold-blooded killing of a woman in Quezon City by a policeman.
“We are serious in pushing for reforms within the police organization. I am exhausting all efforts to get rid of these few police scalawags who put the PNP in a bad light. Like you, I am also angry at rotten policeman,” Eleazar stated on Wednesday.
The PNP chief said he understands the public’s outrage over last Monday’s incident where Police Master Sgt. Hensie Zinampan shot 52-year-old Lilibeth Valdez in the neck at point blank range in Barangay Greater Fairview, Quezon City.
Upon learning of the incident, Eleazar personally went to the Quezon City Police District where Zinampan is detained and confronted him. Later, he ordered the leadership to hasten the administrative proceedings against the policeman for his immediate dismissal from the service.
The PNP chief also assured the family of the victim of a speedy justice while expressing his condolences to them.
Eleazar assured the public that good policemen far outnumber the “few rogues” in the ranks as critics questioned the organization’s integrity over Zinampan’s crime.
“From our more than 220,000 policemen in the PNP, only a small percent make up of what we call misfits or abusive,” he said.
The PNP chief sought the public’s help in weeding out scalawags from the ranks, saying the PNP’s internal cleansing efforts would be more effective if the public reports and lodges complaints against police abuses or involvement in criminal activity.
“While we do our own investigation to weed out rogue policemen from our ranks, we also need the public’s help in ensuring that these few police scalawags are held accountable by reporting them to us through our E-Sumbong,” he said.
Eleazar directed the PNP Internal Affairs Service to fast-track summary dismissal proceedings against Zinampan, while the Quezon City Police District filed a murder charge against him in the city prosecutor’s office.
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