MANILA — The Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) has ordered an absolute ban on ‘secret rituals’ among the ranks of cadets in the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).
The measure comes after an incident during the institution’s graduation ceremonies where underclass cadets mauled nine new police inspectors.
In a statement Wednesday, the PPSC, an agency under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which oversees the PNPA, said its Board of Trustees accepted the recommendations made by the board of inquiry that investigated the incident.
The probe body, chaired by Dr. Romeo S. Magsalos, recommended that all activities of the Corps of Cadets should be sanctioned by the duly-constituted PNPA authorities and should be closely supervised by the Cadet Affairs Office.
“In no instance shall any ‘secret rituals’ involving cadets be conducted,” the recommendation read.
The board added that “as deterrence to misconduct, neglect and undesirable behavior, the PNPA should actively prosecute offenses amounting to criminal acts before the regular courts”.
It also recommended measures to strengthen the esprit de corps among the cadets and increase the capacity of the PNPA to closely monitor cadet activities.
Notably, the board also recommended the intervention of Interior and Local Government Officer in Charge Eduardo Año for the implementation of the policy where deployment to training units under the PPSC is a considered as a Table of Organization (TO) position.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald Dela Rosa earlier said active police personnel generally view appointment to the academy as a dead-end move for their career since it is not officially listed in the PNP’s career advancement ladder and table of organization.
The Board of Inquiry was formed upon the directive of Año, who is also PPSC Board of Trustees Chairman, to PPSC President Ricardo De Leon to look into the mauling incident during the graduation ceremonies, which was also caught on video by some members of the public.
Parents of some of the victims earlier sought dela Rosa’s action on the incident which resulted in head and body injuries on the victims.
The Board of Inquiry said the incident was carried out by a “small group of misguided cadets blindly followed by the underclass who were threatened that they will be inflicted with harm if they will not follow”.
It also noted that there was “failure to effect arrest and cause inquest proceeding of the perpetrators” and that the new inspectors who were mauled have the tendency to accept the harm.
The board also underscored the lack of uniformed personnel to closely supervise other cadet activities, adding that security guards deployed were not allowed to enter the areas where the incidents occurred. (Benjamin Pulta/PNA)
