PNP hiring process: A bloody battle

By Ivan Hydlyde C. Goboleo 

 It will be a bloody battle for aspirants to become a member of the Philippine National Police (PNP), not just in the true battle field but also during application, hiring and training process. Aspiring police officers will undergo series of trainings to become fully Police Officer 1 or PO1.

As mandated by PNP and the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) that recruitment management for aspiring police officers must be under the Civil Service Commission. They will be screened which include series of test that consist of fitness and physical tests that is in accordance with standards and guidelines set.

The agencies involved in the hiring process set a standard procedure for recruitment and selection of PNP uniformed personnel in order to insure the quality of personnel entering the police service and strengthen the foundation of the police professionalization. They established the so called General Qualifications for Appointment and every aspiring police officer should comply or else he/she can’t get a position in the national police.

The qualifications are, the aspirants must be a citizen of the country, with good moral conduct, must have passed series of psychological tests, drug tests, physical tests, must possess a formal baccalaureate degree, eligible candidate, must not dishonorably discharged from any agencies of government, must not have convicted by final judgment of an offense involving moral turpitude, must comply with the set height and weight both male and female aspirants, he or she must be 21 years old and not more than 30 years old.

Aspirants must also have the eligibility requirements, documentary requirements that include personal data sheet, background investigation result, transcript of records and diploma, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance, physical evaluation report and certificate of employment, his or her experience and training. All the documents submitted must be authenticated by appropriate authorities. 

If all the documents presented, the aspirants will be screened through Screening Committee established by the Chief PNP in each province, district or regional office that shall be responsible for the widest dissemination of vacancies in the area and determination of the fitness of the police applicants. Each committee is headed by different senior officers of the PNP together with the representatives from NAPOLCOM and different agencies chose by the Director General. 

 During the screening procedure, there will also be sequence of interviews and tests. In the first process during the preliminary interview, aspirants must present his or her history statement, birth certificate, pictures, and clearance papers from hometown police office, transcript of records and fingerprint card. He or she must pass the Physical Agility Test which is another requirement where he will perform like pull ups, pushups, sit ups and a hundred meter run and pickup and carry on shoulder test. Aspirants must also undergo Psychological and or Neuro psychiatric Test, a test that determines if the applicant has mental disorder.

Another test that the applicants must comply are Character and Background Investigation and Physical and Mental Examination. After these series of tests, that’s the only time the applicant will face the final interview. The Screening Committee shall interview the qualified applicant for suitability of police work. The interview shall aid in determining like ableness, affability, attitude towards work, outside interest, forcefulness, conversational ability, and disagreeable mannerism and so on. After the final interview, the applicants will be in a probationary period of at least 12 months.

After the probationary period, the applicants can already confirm his or her appointments but first the applicant must comply again through another series of requirements. First the original appointment requirements: PNP Form that must be accomplished, updated individual police profile under oath, school credentials, physical and medical clearance, birth certificate or baptismal certificate, report of the PNP Screening Committee, neuro psychiatric test or the PNP clearance, clearances from PNP, Regional Trial Court and NBI, fingerprint and handwriting specimen, passport size picture taken within six months prior to the effectively of the appointment, police eligibility report of rating and last oath of office. Once you have completed all the requirements, that is the only time you can serve as PO1 and authentic member of the Philippine National Police.

Police work is a noble profession, many young children wants to become a police officer once they grew up. But being police officer, with all those requirements to be complied, aspirants must possess this very important requirement - the love for work and dedication to serve the country and its people

It’s not on the training, it’s on the person

Many times police officers encountered different kinds of problems, from their morale up to the heinous crime that some police officers involve in. It is only part of the training of every policeman to undergo series of test, from the shouts of their seniors, to the task that they have to do in order for them to finish the course. Abuses of their seniors is not the problem, it depends on the aspiring police officer whether to maintain that kind of culture inside the national police or not.

It is not on the training of the police officers where the problem came, it is on the person’s capability to do what is right and to do what is wrong. If a police officer for an instance has this kind of bad attitude at all, nevertheless he is part of the abusive police officers in the country. The writer believes that if a police officer is honest enough, has a love and integrity for his work, he would not do anything that would ruin his name and the organization that he belongs to.

If only every police officers has the vision to really serve the country with all his heart, body and soul, the writer believes that no single crime is being committed or being involved by the members of the so called protectors and servicemen of the land – the Philippine National Police.