Research Question 1: What are the experiences of police officers in exercising police discretion?

P1: Marami naming mga experiences, uhh wala lang naga follow lang mi sa instruction sa operation, naa
manay operational plan gina follow lang namo ug iyaha protocol ang POP namo, naa may POP ang police
Police Officer Procedure, basta ang experiences nako about is wala man kanang daily lang na routine
nako is mandakop, ug mag implement ug RA 4136 mao lang.

(We have a lot of experiences, but generally speaking, we just follow the instructions of the operation.
There is an operational plan, and we just follow it along with its protocol. Our POP is the Police Officer
Procedure, and that's all I have to say about it. My daily routine consists of making arrests and putting
RA 4136 into effect.)

a.) How do officers approach discretionary decision-making in their daily responsibilities?

P1: Mag base mi sa kuan discretion namo, basta kabalo lang mi unsa ang standard operating procedure
sa every task namo na kuan, nga gina patuman na gisugo sa amoa na among I implement ang
importante kabalo mi unsa ang boundary namo isip isa ka police dapat dili pod mi maka lapas sa
tawhanong katungod sa constitutional rights, mao na amoa gina observed ambot lang pod sa uban kong
naa bay naka lapas ana usahay kanang wala gyud natuyo pero ang amoang kuan pag duty namo by heart
gyud na amoa, by heart kong sa Bisaya pa di niyos .

(We simply use our discretion in these situations. What matters most is that we understand our limits as
police officers and that we are aware of the standard operating procedure for any duty we have that we
are carrying out on our orders. We learned that we ought not to go beyond the human rights outlined in
the Constitution. I wonder if others occasionally do so unintentionally, but in my opinion, while we are
performing our duties, we are serving the community with all of our hearts.)

b.) In which specific situations do officers frequently apply police discretion?

c.) What key factors significantly influence the decision decision-making process when police
officers exercise discretion?

P1: Kuan, example naay banggaan sa traffic 4136, ang discretion namo kami ang ang mag decision dili
nami mag hulat ug unsay instruction nag ikan sa taas basta kay ang importante, mao nang gi ingon nako
na sa tasking nimo dapat kabalo ka para maka decide ka kong unsa ang imong decision nkga samtang nag
duty ka kabalo ka unsa ang mga legalities na I mean na tama nimo na decision ba discretion gani, kong
discretion ba nimo nag subay paba sa balaod, mag base gyud ka sa balaod always gyud na.

(For instance, in the event of a traffic collision or RA 4136, we have the authority to decide without
waiting for orders from above. As previously stated, you should be aware of your tasking in order to
make an informed decision in such a situation. Additionally, as an officer on duty, you should be aware of
the legal implications of any given situation, as decisions are always based on the law.)
Research Question 2: What are the challenges faced by the officers?

P1: Kuan, challenges man gyapon ning kanang 24hours duty nimo, unya naay off and standard man gyud
kay ang hours tungod sa kolang ang personnel, mabugos ang uban mag 24hrs unya 12 hours off isa na sa
challenges kay ang family nimo daghan kag time sa family nimo ang ma sacrifice na kauban unta ka
imbes mag happy happy unta ka together with your personal nimo na kaila or pamilya isa nana siya.
Unya challenges, kanang usahay bisahay nag buhat ka ug tarong, nag trabaho ka ug tarong usahay, naa
gyuy mali nga mabantayan sa imoha sa mga superior officer which is medyo maka sakit siya sa amo bout
pero we have to be stong para dili mi ma low moral kaylangan namo na ma lampasan para absorb nimo,
mo gahi na imoha kasing kasing dili naka basta basta ma unsa, maka encounter napod kag mga ing ana
kabalo naka unsa imohang buhaton sa sunod ug unsa imohang buhaton ug unsahon nimo pag manage,
mga solution ana.

(We often face challenges such as having to work 24 hours a day and then 12 hours off duty due to
staffing shortages. This means that we are unable to fully dedicate our time to our families. One of the
challenges we face is working 24 hours a day and then having 12 hours off. Even while it's nice to spend
time with our loved ones and friends, there are moments when we simply must make sacrifices. Even
though you do the right thing and work the right way, there are times when there are things that are
wrong that the higher-ups can watch out for. This can be painful for us, but we have to be strong so that
we cannot be low-moral people; we just need to get past it so that we can continue to manage things
and so that we won't be lenient the next time it happens.)

a.) What external factors present challenges to police officers when utilizing discretion?
b.) How do officers perceive and address conflicts that arise from application of discretion?
c.) Are there ethical dilemmas encountered by officers during discretionary decision-making, and
how are these dilemmas managed?

P1: Kuan, pag naay conflicts sa lisod na decision unya pwede ka mag ask sa imo superior, mag ask ka pero
pag ikaw nalang gyud ang mga decision diha on the spot,unya doubtful gani ka kanang medyo alanganin
ka sa imo decision manguntana nalang ka sa imohang senior or kanang mas naay experience sa imoha
pero usually, unsa may lisod na decision kanang first time gyud nimo na encounter, mao man gyud nang
lisod kanang first time nimo na encounter na conflict kong mo decision ka ani basin possible ko ma lagay
sa alanganin ani kani pod na ako decision basin pod maka ingon nga kolang ang ako effort sa ako trabaho
mao nang mas mayo na manguntana gyud, lamang ang may alam.

(If there are conflicts over a difficult decision, you can consult your superior. However, if you are the only
one who makes decisions on the spot and are unsure about your choice, you can consult your superior,
senior, or those with more experience than you. Generally, the difficult decision is the one where you
encounter the conflict for the first time because you are unsure of yourself. You may occasionally wonder
if your effort is lacking in your work, so it's best to consult those with knowledge.)
Research Question 3: What are the police officers coping mechanism?

a.) How do police officers effectively manage stressors associated with discretionary decision-
making?
b.) Are there established formal or informal support systems to assist officers in dealing with
challenges related to discretion?
c.) To what extent do personal and professional experiences contribute to the formulation of
coping strategies among police officers in Mati City?

P1: Dili lang ka ma rattle, mao to ako gi ingon ganiha, tapos manguntana pod ka about sa imoha gika
libogan sa imoha mga superior, labi nag dili nimo kaya i manange ang usa ka problema, presence of mind
lang pod ka always. Overall nato ako answer ganiha, broad man gud ang manguntana pod mao nato
tanan ako na discuss ganiha.

(Do not be nervous and rattle, I already told you earlier you should ask questions about what makes you
confused to your superiors especially, when you cannot handle the problem by yourself. You also need
the presence of mind in all aspects that you will do.)

RQ1: What are the experiences of police officers in exercising police discretion?

P2: Daily experiences are on what position you do have. So, for me, as a desk officer, my fundamental
duties is to entertain those complaint, primarily complain from the citizen to put it in the, the record or
in the blotter.

a.) Ans: No, every, decision making is based on the understanding of your job as a desk officer. My
disposition in every aspect, every client is I just based on the complaint. At the same time, I have
my own disposition regarding in that complaint. Whether it is for, for example, if the client
concern is for the WCPD, then I will forward it to the WCPD officer. Then if the, the case is for
general invest, so I called up the general investigator to resolve the complaint of the client.

b.) Ans: It applies, it depends on what complaint or what problem we encounter from the
concerned citizen or to the client. So, we did it in accordance with the complaint. For example,
as I said earlier, the complaint, if the complaint of a client is the concern for the WCPD, well, my
discretion is you must know first your job, for example, what department should or what section
in this station is the concern. Again, if the concern is vehicular accident, normally I automatically,
it is the concern of the traffic in investigator. So, I don't need to result it in my own discretion I
forward it the concern station.

c.) Ans: We are not influenced, we, the police officer on their discretion or decision making was not
influenced. We learned it. Okay. To simplify, we are face-to-face basis. So, we don't need to be
 influenced by a certain, even the police senior police officer, we are bound by understanding on
the laws on any problem.

RQ2: What are the challenges faced by the officers?

P2: Challenges everyday is challenges, particularly dealing with community because you encounter
different character or attitude of one person, but you must always go down dealing with them because
our priority is their safety at the same time their complaint. So, sometimes we experience, being critic,
critic by the community because they are just based on our discretion. So, that is the major problem that
we encountered, the community and their feed back towards us. As we all know we cannot please them
on their critics no matter how you help them, because they do not totally understand what is police
work. Our discretion as a police officer is we act in accordance, we act bound the law.

a.) Ans: I think the changes of command because in our organization the leadership is come and go,
when the higher leadership is changing or changes automatically the rules was imposed will
change and by that we need to adjust again.

b and c.) Ans: As I said earlier, we are just relying on what complaint and in the accordance with the
law because we bound in the law, so, whatever his or her complain we rely it to what laws he or she
violated and protects him or her.

Research Question 3: What are the police officers coping mechanism?

P2: Fore me, the challenges is the imposed law you cannot decide by your own always rely, always lean
with the law of this country as a whole.

a.) Ans: We manage it beyond our discretion, we manage it because there are standard operating
procedures being applied in all situations with all aspect of this organization. Again, as I said the
person who has discretion is not necessarily use by the officers because we are bound by the law
or internal rule.
b.) Ans: Internally, the support system by the organization is maybe the salary, and also, we are
being guided by some religious meetings and guidance and advice by our chief of police all of
the officers.
c.) Ans: Personally, to sum up all the questions. We are limitedly discretion by ourself, as a
professional we have a standard to be follow whether you like it or not you must like it even
though it is against your will or against your discretion you must follow those rules. We have a
terminology in PNP it states that you must go and go because that is part of the job, you must
adopt the norms of the community as well as adopt the internal rules.
RQ1: What are the experiences of police officers in exercising police discretion?

P3: Police discretion is part of the daily routinary activity of a police officer. Once you step-out for police
duty a police officer must be ready on every situation. To use its keen observation and sound judgement
in the performance of his duty. In order for us to do such things we were trained and given efficient
knowledge in order for us to deliver capable decision making. The police operational procedure is a
handbook that states how a police officer must handle state policing in its locality. This handbook were
trained in order for a police officer to make judgement calls on difficult situations on their own capacity,
if things go beyond their capacity, we tend to look for guidance to our senior officers and commanding
officers.

RQ2: What are the challenges faced by the officers?

P3: There are several challenges that can exist when managing certain situation. There are things needed
to be considered just like, political manifestation, religious affiliation, juridical jurisdiction, rank and file,
economic profiles and others.

Stated factors usually arise on different situation, a police officer is trained to adjust and maintain its
composure on handling such cases. A police officer needs to weigh everything and deliver a sound
judgement in line with the police operational procedure.

The police officer must not go beyond the stated rules cause future problems may arise. Some problems
are manageable yet there are some cannot be managed and may cause administrative sanctions, these
sanctions will be address to a PNP tribunal.

RQ3: What are the police officers coping mechanism?

P3: Being an officer of the law requires extreme dedication, patience and commitment. We always put
into our mind that this is not just a job but a calling. These plays a great contributory factor on facing
every challenge. These job gives food on our family’s plate, give us shelter and refuge to our economic
problems. Also, blood sweat and tears were wasted in order for us to wear this uniform and will do
everything that we can in order for us not waste such. Seeing these things being materialized are
contributory factors that motivates us to go out every day and perform our job efficiently.

For those who cannot handle it on their own, the PNP had created a squadding system. This system will
help you, will keep you motivated and will monitor your wellbeing. These peer group as supervised by a
senior officer will never leave a troop behind and will always assure that all its members is in good
shape.

As time goes by you as a person will grow and previous experiences will teach you how to be a better law
enforcement officer. This experience will play a vital role on handling difficulties, experiences
accompanied with proper training shall pave way on managing situations on a daily basis. During training
we were ordained through unenviable and difficult situation, we always have a saying “its ok to bleed on
training than to die on battle”.