ROLE OF POLICE AND OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

According to the article 16, section 6 of the 1987 philippine constitution,

the state shall establish and maintain one police force, which shall be
national in scope and civilian in character, to be administered and
controlled by a national police commission. The authority of local
executives over the police units in their jurisdiction shall be provided by
law. Before we discuss about what the ‘national in scope and civilian in
character’ means, let’s talk first about a short history of PNP. The PNP is
originated from the PC or Philippine Constabulary, the Philippine
Constabulary was made public on August 08, 1901 under the American
regime. On august 08, 1975 Presidential Decree No. 765 establishing the
Philippine Constabulary and Integrated National Police as ‘Country’s
National Police Force’. After the People Revolution in 1986, a new
constitution was promulgated providing for a police force which is ‘National
in scope and Civilian in character’. The act that establish the Philippine
National Police is no other than the Republic Act 6975 entitled “An act
establishing the Philippine National Police under a Reorganized
Department of the Interior and Local Government” in which it was signed
into law on December 13, 1990, which took effect on January 1, 1991. The
Philippine National Police was operational on January 29, 1991. When
Marcos regime booted out by the EDSA Revolution on 1986, the 1987
Constitution finally called for the creation of singular and professional
police force that was ‘national in scope and civilian in character’. In other
words, the Philippine Constabulary and Integrated National Police was
fully merged into what we have now which is the Philippine National
Police. National in scope means that an organization must demonstrate
that its benefits will be effectively extended nationwide, extending beyond
a state or region. In other words, the police officers or the Philippine
national Police must effectively enforce the law all throughout the country,
they should perform their role which is to serve and protect not just on a
particular area but should be the country as a whole. It also means that
the PNP is a nationwide government organization whose jurisdiction covers
the entire breadth of thePhilippine archipelago and not just a particular
region because the Philippines is exercising this what we called centralized
policing system. Centralized policing system means we are only using one
police force for the entire country which is the PNP or Philippine National
Police. On the other hand when we say ‘civilian in character’ means that
that the PNP is not a part of the military, although it retains some military
attributes such as discipline. Compared to AFP, the PNP is more close to
the community. The community should see police personnel and officers as
part of their community. They should not be regarded as the military –
police should be closer to people. Article XVI, Section 6 of the 1987
Constitution provides that “The authority of local executives over fhe
police units in theirjurisdiction shall be provided by law.” Thus, Congress
passed Republic Act No. 6975, otherwise known as the Department of the
Interior and Local Government (DILG) Act of 1990, placing the Philippine
National Police (PNP) under the DILG and deputizing governors and
mayors as representatives of the National Police Commission
(NAPOLCOM). It provided that mayors may exercise operational
supervision and control over the PNP, Le., they shall have the power to
“direct, superintend, oversee, inspect the police units or forces.”
Therefore, in every city, each mayors were allowed to inspect police units
within their jurisdiction that are provided by the law. While it is very clear
that the PNP is a civilian in character, PNP forces can be deployed in
times of national emergency, which means they should also be ready to
defend the country at any time. As we all know that we don’t have any
idea what would happen in the future, but our men in uniform must always
be ready in case of national emergency. They should not just think or
focus about the crime in the society or the country as a whole but also
they should have the skills and the ability to defend the country at all cost
any time. What they forget is that ‘the police is the community and the
community is the police’, this quote is from Robert Peels. The police are
the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of
the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are
incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and
existence. Communities rely on police departments to "protect and serve"
and the police, in turn, rely on community support and cooperation, but the
relationship is not always harmonious.  One of the fundamental keys to
successful law enforcement is good police-community relations, or the
relationship between the police and the communities they serve. Good
police-community relations are imperative for developing trust between
police and citizens. "the community is the police" emphasizes that every
member of society has a role to play in promoting safety and justice. It
recognizes that communities possess valuable knowledge, insights, and
resources that can contribute to effective crime prevention and resolution.
Serving people is a “great honor and pleasure” for a service man/woman,
and it can be manifested or appreciated by the people through the
“respect” given to them. These are the important ideas that some of our
men in uniform have failed to internalize, because they typically label
themselves as ordinary citizens whose reward for service rendered should
be in the form in compensation o money. Indeed, it is a great honor to
serve the country and its people and this should be the motivation of our
men in uniform, not just the salary. The salary given to the police is not
enough or not designed for them to become rich. As a law enforcement
officer or any public servant, getting rich should not be your goal because
if that’s the case then they must leave the agency and look for a business.
Do not choose law enforcer if you’re just looking for the salary on it,
choose law enforcement because you want to serve and protect the
country. Compared to volunteers from organizations like the Red Cross,
Lions Club, Fire Volunteer, Army Reservists, and many more, our police
forces enjoy far more benefits because they are paid and are given more
opportunities to serve. At present, the Philippine Red Cross provides six
major services: Blood Services, Disaster Management Services, Safety
Services, Health Services, Social Services, Red Cross Youth and
Volunteer Services.To empower volunteers to serve their communities,
meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international
understanding through Lions Clubs. In the Philippines, there are many
volunteer fire organizations that are actively involved in fire fighting. Fire
volunteer groups are often also engaged in emergency and disaster
response and various volunteerism activities. Reservists are stationed
near their home and only deployed to international stations if they are
called up for active duty. This allows them to continue their career or
education while training close to home. They shall not receive pay but
shall be entitled to allowances and burial benefits as provided by law.
Reservists on voluntary training are also subject to military law but shall be
entitled to allowances. (3) Selective Mobilization. - Selective mobilization
shall be by authority of the President. Compared to these organizations,
PNP still enjoys a lot of benefits over them because these volunteers even
use their money for their service compared to PNP who receives salary.
https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1991/ra_7077_1991.html#:~:text=They
%20shall%20not%20receive%20pay,shall%20be%20entitled%20to
%20allowances.&text=(3)%20Selective%20Mobilization.,by%20authority
%20of%20the%20President.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/things-to-know-philippine-national-police-
mandate/

https://www.coursehero.com/file/p7h22jf4/operational-supervision-of-the-
National-Police-Commission-It-is-an-organization/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/police-community-relations-importance-
comparisons.html#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20fundamental%20keys,trust
%20between%20police%20and%20citizens.

https://www.rand.org/topics/police-community-relations.html
https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/25671940!.pdf

https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/national-in-scope#:~:text=National
%20in%20scope%20means%20that%20an%20organization%20must
%20demonstrate%20that,Sample%201