GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Police Regional Office (PRO)-12 has hired some 589 additional police personnel under the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) continuing recruitment program.
Chief Supt. Eliseo Rasco, PRO-12 regional director, said Wednesday the additional personnel are from different parts of the region who have qualified and passed the PNP’s stringent selection process.
The recruits formally took their oath on Tuesday as new members of the PNP with the ranks of Police Officer (PO) 1 in a ceremony held at the regional headquarters in Barangay Tambler here.
Rasco said the new non-commissioned police officers are part of the first cycle this year of the PNP’s PO1 recruitment program. They will immediately undergo a six-month training program on Police Recruit Basic Course.
“These were recruited under the region’s public safety forces quota,” the police official said.
Rasco assured that the new personnel were selected under stringent vetting stages and in “transparent and fair” selection process.
A PRO-12 briefer said the selection process started with the filing of application through the PNP’s online recruitment application system and followed by various screening stages such as face-to-face interview, physical agility test, psychiatric/psychological examination, physical medical and dental examinations, unannounced drug test and complete background investigation.
A total of 1,185 potential recruits from the region registered and filed applications for the PO1 slots.
Supt. Aldrin Gonzales, PRO-12 public information officer, said the number dwindled in different stages of the screening process.
The regional screening committee recommended on Sept. 10 the appointment of 589 applicants as PO1, composed of 443 males and 146 females.
The new police officers will be deployed to local police units before the May 13 local and national mid-term elections next year, he added. (PNA)
