GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/1 April) — The Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 is set to hire an additional 566 policemen as it continues to build up the manpower strength and capability of local police units in the region.
Senior Insp. Aldrin Gonzales, PRO-12 public information officer, said they have started the hiring process for the new police non-commissioned officer items based on a directive issued by the Philippine National Police (PNP) central office.
He said the 566 additional policemen, which will be given the rank of Police Officer 1, comprises the quota approved by the PNP central office for the region’s first recruitment cycle for this year.
Gonzales said 333 will be hired under the PNP’s regular recruitment program while the 233 would be under its attrition system.
“The 33 will be apportioned to the General Santos City and Cotabato City police offices and the rest will be distributed to the other police stations and offices within the region,” he said.
Region 12, which is also known as the Soccsksargen Region, comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.
Gonzales said the minimum qualifications for the applicants are the completion of any four-year course or bachelor’s degree; professional civil service eligibility; no criminal record; good moral character; and, a height of at least 1.62 centimeters (cm) or 5’4” for males and 1.57 cm or 5’2” for females.
He said applicants who would pass the initial screening will be required to undergo a series of tests or examinations such as psychological, psychiatric, physical, mental and dental.
They will also undergo drug as well as basic physical agility tests, he said.
“These will be done in stages and the results will be carefully evaluated by our team of recruitment officers,” he said.
Last month, PRO-12 completed the hiring of 263 additional non-uniformed personnel (NUP) for various police units within the region’s four provinces and five cities.
The PNP announced in January an additional 7,439 hiring quota for NUPs of various police regional offices in the country.
The hiring, which started last year, is part of the PNP’s efforts to replace uniformed officers who are doing administrative jobs in different police stations and offices with civilian personnel. (MindaNews)