House minority leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan is batting for the passage of new legislation that would strengthen the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) as a self-governing public higher educational institution.
Libanan has filed House Bill No. 3507 – the proposed PNPA Charter of 2022 – to build up the school that produces commissioned lieutenants for the country’s 202,000-strong police force.
Under the bill, the PNPA would be governed by a new nine-member board of trustees, with the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government and the Chief of the Philippine National Police sitting as chairperson and co-chairperson, respectively.
“In the years ahead, we are counting on the PNPA to produce the best and the brightest law enforcement officers imbued with exceptional leadership qualities and the highest standards of professional competence and personal integrity,” Libanan said in a statement on Sunday.
Libanan’s bill guarantees that the PNPA would enjoy academic freedom, in accordance with the 1987 Constitution’s mandate for all higher learning institutions to determine for themselves “who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught, and who may be admitted to study.”
At present, all PNPA graduates earn a Bachelor of Science in Public Safety degree, and are then commissioned as police lieutenants, or as inspectors of the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
Under Libanan’s bill, the PNPA would autonomously:
· Provide advanced instruction and specialized education in public safety, social defense, internal security, human rights, and other relevant fields of study;
· Establish plans, policies, programs, curricula, and standards of teaching and training; and
· Create, develop and implement a system of faculty placement, promotion and development.
Under the bill, the PNPA would be governed by a new nine-member board of trustees, with the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government and the Chief of the Philippine National Police sitting as chairperson and co-chairperson, respectively.
The Commission on Higher Education chairperson, the National Police Commission vice chairperson, and the PNPA Alumni Association Inc. chairperson would also sit as board trustees.
The rest of the trustees would be composed of the chairpersons of the House committee on higher and technical education; Senate committee on higher, technical and vocational education; House committee on public order and safety; and the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.
At present, all PNPA graduates earn a Bachelor of Science in Public Safety degree, and are then commissioned as police lieutenants, or as inspectors of the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
The PNPA currently does not have a governing board. It is being supervised by a “command group” composed of a director, a deputy director, and a chief of staff who are all police generals.
