GRUMBLINGS | PNPA alumni planning moves to protest 'unfair' postings - sources

From InterAksyon (Apr 15): GRUMBLINGS | PNPA alumni planning moves to protest 'unfair' postings - sources

Alumni of the Philippine National Police Academy have been discussing possible how best to protest what they perceive to be discrimination in the system of promotions and assignments that tend to favor graduates of the Philippine Military Academy.

The PNPA graduates are likely to receive support from two groups of officers who do not come from either of the academies -- the Association of Police Lateral Entrants or APOLE, and the Police ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) Graduates for Integrity, Morality and Order or PRIMO.

A police office privy to the goings on, who spoke on condition he not be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said presidents of PNPA classes from 1983 to 1992, most of whom hold the ranks of superintendent and senior superintendent, have been meeting discretely to discuss what to do even as they continue to appeal to the PNP leadership to level the playing field in promotions and assignments.

There are currently more than 300 PMA graduates serving in the PNP, with Class 1992 the last batch. These officers were absorbed from the defunct Philippine Constabulary when the PNP was created.

In contrast, there are at least 3,600 PNPA graduates, most of whom, according to the source, occupy “not so juicy posts” compared to their former military counterparts.

On Monday, President Benigno Aquino III presided over a command conference in Camp Crame during which one of the concerns raised were the grievances of the PNPA alumni.

Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP public information officer, said the police leadership is now findings ways to make promotions and assignments more equitable between graduates of the two academies.

“This is now being discussed, being studied so we can make it more equitable and of course proportionate,” Sindac said.

Explaining their support for the PNPA alumni, members of APOLE and PRIMO said they could empathize with the grumbling officers because they, too, feel treated as “second-class” citizens in the service.

Another concern, they said, is that the PNP Senior Officers Placement and Promotions Board is currently made up only of PMA graduates “who oftentimes act favorably to the graduates of their school” even if there are PNPA alumni “who have complied with qualification standards such as eligibility, education, training and time-in-grade.”

“Any imagined or real derogatory record thrown by the Chief PNP and members of the SOPPB against any PNPA applicant is enough to disqualify them,” they added.

The APOLE and PRIMO members also observed that, whenever there is a deadlock, the PNP hierarchy tends to appoint PMA graduates as officers-in-charge, often for longer than the normal two years for such temporary appointments.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/84869/grumblings--pnpa-alumni-planning-moves-to-protest-unfair-postings---sources