Address
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
On the fourth anniversary of the Philippine National Police

[Delivered at Camp Crame, Quezon City, January 30, 1995]

The challenge of
law enforcement

ALTHOUGH the challenge of crime to our society can never leave our minds, I believe we can allow for a moment of quiet celebration here today.

At the outset, let me convey to the Philippine National Police the gratitude of our entire nation for its commendable performance in ensuring the success of the visit of Pope John Paul II and the observance of World Youth Day.

Sometimes it takes colossal events like the papal visit to remind us and the world what we Filipinos are really capable of. In that demonstration of national capacity, excitement and fervor, security and crowd control were as important as the other arrangements.

The PNP our country deserves

In this vital mission of securing the Pope you of the PNP acquitted yourselves splendidly. You acted firmly yet gently. You were everywhere yet unobtrusive. And you were resourceful and cool in the face of what may have been the largest crowd ever to assemble in one place in national and even world history. Some still doubt that it was the biggest of all; but we cannot be in doubt about the PNP’s credible performance. This is the PNP all Filipinos want but do not always get. This is the PNP that our country deserves.

Let me quote from former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Raul Manglapus, who said in a recent speech:

The director of the National Historical Institute informed me that nothing like Luneta January 15 has ever been recorded in history, ancient or modern. The nearest things to it took place in 1948 and 1949.

In New Delhi in January 1948, almost four million—in a country then of 600 million—together stood at the cremation of Mahatma Gandhi.

In Beijing, in October 1949 three million—in a country then close to one billion—gathered to mark the victory of Mao’s forces.

One must look behind the numbers.

Beijing was a military celebration overseen by victorious but still dominating weaponry.

New Delhi was lamentation and tears for the passing of a world giant, organized by the central government.

There were no tears at the Luneta except those of joy and exultation. There were no hymns of protest against governments, present or past—only chantings of love and peace to all.

The Government did not organize it. But Government, in quiet confidence and wielding nothing but democratic police power, ensured that five million Filipinos could safely, solidly and exuberantly proclaim their commitment to peace.

There was, perhaps, one word to describe it all—stability.

A fresh start

By name and mandate, the PNP was and is a new national police organization, completely civilian. Many among you and the AFP had to make a choice between becoming a civil servant or remaining in the Armed Forces.

By necessity and circumstance, the PNP was born of the reformist spirit of our People Power Revolution at EDSA in February 1986 and the struggle to maintain our democracy against several coup attempts—the last occurring in 1989, or just a year before the passage of Republic Act 6975 in 1990.

By purpose and design, the PNP represented a fresh start in coping with the challenge of crime in our free society.

The year past was not an easy one for the PNP. I am aware of the unremitting efforts of its men and women to deliver quality service, but your success have been overshadowed by unfortunate incidents that drew greater public notice.

These were the assassination of police officers, the kidnapping or murder of prominent citizens, the rash of bank robberies. There was a discernible increase in rape cases. Scalawags in the service continued to figure in criminal activities.

While statistics show that you have a good batting average in solving cases, people mainly remember the unsolved ones. The PNP’s year-end report reflects solid gains on the peacekeeping, loose firearms collection, and crime prevention fronts. The decrease of serious crimes by 8 percent is particularly significant.

But statistics do not impress the people. Our people demand tangible proof that we are indeed gaining in the fight against criminality.

The importance of teamwork

The quick solution of crimes is an area where immediate and solid results can be posted. In my recent dialogue with members of the Crusade Against Violence, I committed the executive branch to speed up the solution of cases and the swift delivery of justice. But as we all know, the valued contributions of the judiciary, the legislature and the concerned citizenry must be inputted.

For this purpose of improving our overall and collective performance in crime fighting and prevention, we have set the third anniversary of our National Peace and Order Summit on February 16 as our next opportunity to forge a more effective action plan.

We cannot exaggerate the importance of teamwork, because developing an effective criminal justice system requires precisely that. All the five pillars must cohere and work as one.

Today, therefore, I wish to emphasize additional initiatives for the success of the anticrime effort.

First, I direct all executive agencies involved in this campaign—the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Presidential Anticrime Commission, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and Local Governments—to provide the example of teamwork and solidarity.

Once and for all, let us put a stop to the quarrels coming from law enforcers over turf and credit. No one should pretend to be the pope among you. And you should not allow drumbeaters to provoke one-upmanship within the system. In other words—let us focus on teamwork and set aside intramurals.

To ensure coordination, I will meet henceforth with the heads of all these agencies to review the crime situation regularly and periodically.

And second, we will revitalize the Department of Justice to energize and support the anticrime effort. The Department has charge of the prosecutorial and correctional pillars of the criminal justice system.

Where delay in justice delivery has to do with shortcomings on the prosecution end, let us resolutely resolve it. Where delay has to do with the judiciary, let us ask the Supreme Court and our judges for expeditious action.

Internal strengthening

Our anticrime strategy depends to a large extent on institutional capacity and morale in every pillar of the criminal justice system. Nowhere is this more needed than in the PNP itself, where the greatest number of our anticrime fighters is located.

We must not only improve systems and technology. We must look at the individual police officer—his training, his professionalism, his welfare.

I assure you that your commitment and sacrifices to keep homes and streets safe for our citizens have not gone unnoticed. But you must not be blind to the existence of rotten apples in the barrel, who inevitably taint the PNP organization as a whole. For this reason, the PNP must relentlessly press on the cleansing process it has instituted under “Oplan Pagbabago”—until the internal culture of corruption and abuse is rooted out.

Equally, I am ever conscious of the need to match public demands for better police services with more welfare for police personnel and their dependents.

At this point, there is not much we can do until next year—beyond what we have already done in 1995—in terms of salaries and allowances.

Noncash benefits

But there is a package of noncash benefits being worked out—designed to provide for your basic needs such as affordable and decent housing, comprehensive medical and dental services, and livelihood programs that will generate that much-needed additional income. The package also includes educational assistance for PNP personnel and their dependents.

The housing need is particularly acute. Over the next five years, the PNP proposes to build on-base units consisting of 60 four-story condominiums, 200 10-door apartments, 47 quarters for married and bachelor officers and 161 barracks. These structures will be distributed in various PNP camps nationwide.

The proposed on-base housing project will provide dwellings for some 19,000 employees. The remaining 58,000 who cannot avail themselves of private or Government-provided housing shall be assisted in acquiring private homes in socialized and low-cost mass housing under the off-base component of the nationwide PNP housing program.

The PNP’s scholarship program is another source of relief for the financially burdened PNP personnel, particularly for dependents of personnel killed or incapacitated in the performance of duty.

The special financial assistance was made possible by Republic Act 6988, which provides for the education of qualified children of dead or incapacitated personnel from the elementary to the collegiate or vocational school levels.

I cite these benefits to underline the Government’s continuing concern for the welfare of the law enforcers and their families. I would like nothing better than to see the standard of living of the men and women of the PNP raised to real dignity and reasonable comfort.

This is where we cannot emphasize enough the umbilical connection between public order and socioeconomic development. For as our country modernizes, so will the Government be able to pay its public servants better and help their families more.

Crime and the economy

Since time immemorial, public order has always been the first precondition for progress.

When public order breaks down, when citizens are afraid to move about freely, when contempt and mistrust characterize public attitudes to lawful authority, and when the Government cannot effectively enforce the laws—then the economy cannot move forward. Lawlessness becomes a plague on all our houses. Only the criminals profit.

On the other hand, when peace and order reigns in society, industry and agriculture can operate without interruption, workers can produce more, profits can be plowed into more investments in the economy and more rewards for our workers and citizens, and the country can be more attractive and competitive in the world.

More than just the advancement of the economy, public order means the advancement of our quality of life.

The past four years of the Philippine National Police have not been in vain. It is evolving into a modern and cohesive police organization. It is carrying the fight to the criminals, not just awaiting their blows.

So you have reason to be proud, and the country to be grateful.

But in the midst of this celebration of your fourth anniversary, do not forget that the battle is not done. Indeed it will never be over. You must ever strive to do more. And you can do much much more.