Officials and other personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who will fail the lifestyle checks ordered by Interior Secretary Mar Roxas will be charged, Malacanang said yesterday.
“Appropriate action will be taken. They (PNP) will file against their own,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said when asked regarding Roxas’ directive.
According to Valte, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and the Internal Affairs Service of the PNP should be “given the chance” to prove their worth in investigating police officers as well as rank and file personnel.
“For one we have an independent office which is the Office of the Ombudsman. But this is the internal effort of the executive to run a lifestyle check. This is the reason why Secretary Roxas consulted the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) so the guidelines are clear. We will find out who will fail and who will float in terms of the quality of their work if the guidelines are clear,” she explained.
Valte also defended the Napolcom for taking the lead role in probing its own people, noting that Roxas, being the chairman of the agency, also volunteered to undergo such checks.
“Napolcom is also part of the PNP structure. (Roxas) sits as chairman of Napolcom (and) there should be inherent controls in these structures,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Palace official said it is required of PNP Director General Alan Purisima to answer allegations that he had acquired enormous wealth beyond his earning capacity.
“Suffice it to say we’ll allow the PNP chief or his spokesperson to respond to these allegations,” Valte said.
Purisima last week snubbed a Senate hearing on the controversies surrounding him and the PNP.
But Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said yesterday that the PNP chief must appear for the scheduled hearing on September 30.
The senator said their invitation was for Purisima, thus he can no longer send a representative.
Poe has also requested, in advance, a copy of Purisima’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth so she could study it ahead of the September 30 hearing.
“He must attend the hearing especially if he has nothing to hide. This is his chance to clear all the issues and erase all suspicion against him,” the senator said.
