PROVIDING LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR MEMBERS OF THE INTEGRATED NATIONAL POLICE WHO MAY BE CHARGED FOR SERVICE-CONNECTED OFFENSES AND IMPROVING THE DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM IN THE INTEGRATED NATIONAL POLICE, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 971
• Sections: 14

Preamble

WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 765, dated August 8, 1975,

has established the Integrated National Police to attain a hi?h level of

efficiency and discipline in police administration under a unified command:

WHEREAS, the existing laws, decrees, rules and regulations

need further strengthening to achieve the desired discipline and conduct in the

service;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution, do hereby

order and decree, as part of the laws of the land, the following:

Section 1 Summary Disciplinary Powers of Commanders.

SECTION 1. Summary Disciplinary Powers of

Commanders.—The duly designated commanders in the Integrated National

Police shall, in dealing with a minor offense committed by any regular or

uniformed member of their respective commands, have the summary disciplinary

powers as indicated below:

a. Municipal substation commanders, station and district commanders, and

provincial police superintendents or officers holding equivalent commands may

summarily impose the administrative punishment of admonition or reprimand;

restriction to specified limits; withholding of privileges; forfeiture of salary

for not more than ten (10) days; suspension for a period not exceeding ten (10)

days; or any combination of the foregoing, provided that the total period shall

not exceed ten (10) days.

b. The Regional or Zone Directors, including the Director of the Metropolitan

Police Force, shall have the power to impose upon any of the members under their

respective commands summary disciplinary punishment of suspension for not

exceeding fifteen (15) days or forfeiture of salary of not more than fifteen

(15) days.

c. The Director General shall have the power to impose upon the members of

the Integrated National Police, summary disciplinary punishment of suspension

for not exceeding thirty (30) days or forfeiture of salary of not more than

thirty (30) days.

Section 2 Minor Offense, defined.

SEC. 2. Minor Offense, defined.—Minor offense

refers to an act or omission not involving moral turpitude but affecting the

internal discipline of the Integrated National Police.

Whether an offense is minor or not depends upon its nature, the time and

place of its commission and the rank of the person committing it.

In no case shall the following offenses be considered as minor; disloyalty to

the government; grave misconduct; gross inefficiency or incompetence;

oppression; serious irregularities or serious neglect; notoriously disgraceful

or immoral conduct; engaging directly or indirectly in partisan political

activities; falsification; other crimes involving moral turpitude; directly or

indirectly obstructing, defeating or violating the civil rights and liberties of

an individual; receiving a fee, gift or other valuable thing from any person who

gives the same in consideration of services or favors received or in the hope or

expectation of receiving a favor or better treatment than that accorded to other

persons.

Section 3 Finality of Summary Disciplinary Action.

SEC. 3. Finality of Summary Disciplinary

Action.—The summary disciplinary action imposed upon a member of the

Integrated National Police shall be final and executory: Provided, that the

disciplinary action taken by a commander lower than the Director General may be

appealed to the next higher commander within ten (10) days from receipt of

notice of the decision thereof by the member concerned.

Section 4 Preventive Suspension by Reason of Pending Criminal Case.

SEC. 4. Preventive Suspension by Reason of Pending

Criminal Case.—Whenever a member of the Integrated National Police is

accused in the civil or military court of any felony or violation of law by the

municipal or city attorney, the provincial or city fiscal, the prosecutor of the

Department of Justice or the authorized representative of the Philippine

Constabulary/Integrated National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation or

any major service . of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the station or

higher commander concerned or the National Police Commission shall immediately

suspend the accused from office pending final decision by the court. For this

purpose, it shall be the duty of the judge or clerk of court concerned to

furnish the station commander or police superintendent and the National Police

Commission with the copy of the complaint or information against said member.

The preventive suspension of the accused shall remain operative pending decision

of the case by the court unless sooner lifted by the said Commission by reason

of the exigency of the service upon recommendation of the Director General,

Section 5 Placement of the Accused in the Custody of his Commander.

SEC. 5. Placement of the Accused in the Custody of his

Commander.—When the charge against a member of the Integrated National

Police, referred to in the preceding section, arose from the performance of

duty, the court may, upon proper petition of the immediate commander, place the

member concerned under the custody of such commander in lieu of requiring a bail

bond.

Section 6 Entitlement to Reinstatement and Salary.

SEC. 6. Entitlement to Reinstatement and Salary.—A

member of the Integrated National Police who may have been suspended from office

in accordance with the preceding sections shall, upon acquittal from the charges

against him, be entitled to reinstatement by the station or higher commander and

payment of any salary and/or allowances withheld from him by reason of such

suspension.

Section 7 Suspension by reason of detention.

SEC. 7. Suspension by reason of detention.—Any

member of the Integrated National Police who may have been lawfully detained by

the military authorities for offenses covered by Presidential General Order No.

2A, as amended, shall also be considered suspended from office during such

detention: Provided, That, if he is released without formal charges having been

filed against him in court, he shall be entitled to the rights provided for in

the preceding section hereof.

Section 8 Removal and Suspension of Members of the Integrated National Police.

SEC. 8. Removal and Suspension of Members of the

Integrated National Police.—Members of the Integrated National Police may

be suspended for a period not exceeding one year or removed from the service for

misconduct, incompetency, dishonesty, disloyalty to the government,

irregularities in the performance of duties, neglect of duty or violation of

law, upon written complaint filed under oath with the Hearing Officer of the

National Police Commission, in the province or city where such member is

assigned: Provided, That once an administrative complaint on any of the grounds

herein mentioned is filed under oath with the Hearing Officer or with the

Commanders referred to in Section 1 of this Decree, such commanders may, based

upon their own findings of fact and in the interest of the service suspend the

respondent pending resolution of the case unless lifted by the Director General

or the National Police Commission: Provided, further, That the commander

concerned shall, in case the complaint is filed directly with him, refer the

same to the Hearing Officer without unnecessary delay. In provinces where there,

are no appointed Hearing Officers yet, such complaint shall be filed with the

Board of Investigators of the locality.

Neglect of Duty or Non-feasance is the omission or refusal, without

sufficient excuse, to perform an act or duty, which it was the officer's legal

obligation to perform.

Irregularities in the Performance of Duties is the improper performance of

some act which might lawfully be done.

Misconduct or Malfeasance is the doing either through ignorance, inattention

or malice, of that which the officer had no legal right to do at all, as where

he acts without any authority whatsoever or exceeds, ignores or abuses his

powers.

Incompetency is the manifest lack of adequate ability and fitness for the

satisfactory performance of official duties by reason of the officer's vice or

vicious habits. This has reference to any physical moral or intellectual quality

the lack of which substantially incapacitates one to perform the duties of a

peace or public safety officer.

Dishonesty is the concealment or distortion of truth in a matter of fact

relevant to one's office, or connected with the performance of his duties.

Disloyalty to the Government consists of abandonment or renunciation of one's

loyalty to the Government of the Philippines, or advocating the overthrow of the

Government.

Violation of Law presupposes conviction in Court of any crime or offense

penalized under the Revised Penal Code or any other penal law or ordinance.

Upon the filing of the complaint against a member of the Integrated National

Police with the Hearing Officer of the Province or City where the respondent is

stationed, a copy of the said complaint shall be furnished the former by the

Hearing Officer within five (5) days from the date of filing thereof, and the

respondent shall answer within five (5) days from receipt thereof.

Within five (5) days from receipt of respondent's answer or from the

expiration of respondent's period to answer, whichever is earlier, the Hearing

Officer shall conduct a preliminary inquiry for the purpose of determining

whether or not a prima facie case exists against the respondent. In such

preliminary inquiry, the Hearing Officer shall examine under oath both parties

and their witnesses, with a view of ascertaining the existence of a probable

cause against respondent. Should the Hearing. Officer find no prima facie, case

against the respondent, he shall drop the case. subject to anneal by the

complainant to the Adjudication Board of the Commission, with fifteen (15) days

from receipt of the notice of dismissal: Provided, That the Commission may order

the reopening of the case motu propio if the interest of justice so warrants.

Should the Hearing Officer find during the preliminary inquiry a prima facie

case against the respondent, he shall within ten (10) days from the termination

of the preliminary inquiry, conduct a formal investigation of the case. If the

charge is serious and evidence of guilt appears strong, the Hearing Officer

shall immediately recommend to the National Police Commission the suspension of

the respondent, pending final disposition of the administrative case, unless

sooner lifted.

Unless for good cause shown, the investigation shall be finished within

thirty (30) days from the commencement thereof and the corresponding findings

and recommendation thereon shall be submitted by the Hearing Officer within

thirty (30) days from termination of the investigation to the Adjudication Board

of the Commission for decision.

The decision of the Adjudication Board shall be final except where it

involves removal or dismissal from the service, in which case the respondent may

within fifteen (15) days from his receipt of the decision, appeal the same to

the Appellate Committee of the National Police Commission for review and final

disposition.

The term member as used in this Decree shall be understood to refer to the

uniformed or regular police, jail or fire personnel of the Integrated National

Police.

Section 9 Legal Assistance.

SEC. 9. Legal Assistance.—The Secretary of Justice,

the Secretary of National Defense, the Chairman of the National Police Commission

and the Director General of the Integrated National Police may authorize lawyers

of their respective agencies to provide legal assistance and representation to

any member of the Integrated National Police who is facing charges before

fiscals and courts for any offenses arising from or connected with the

performance of his official duty: Provided, That for the purposes of this

Section, government lawyers so authorized shall have the power to administer

oaths: Provided, further, That lawyers may be employed from the private sectors

to provide such legal assistance where and when government lawyers are not

readily available: Provided, finally. That the Secretaries of Justice and

National Defense shall promulgate joint rules and regulations to implement the

provisions of this Section.

Section 10

SEC. 10. Appropriations.. The amount of two million pesos

(P2,000,000) is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of the funds in the

National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be administered by the

Integrated National Police, to carry out the purpose of this Decree and

thereafter, such amounts as mav be necessary for this purpose shall be included

in the annual appropriation of the Integrated National Police.

Section 11 Rules and Regulations.

SEC. 11. Rules and Regulations.—The Director

General of the Integrated National Police and the Chairman of the National

Police Commission shall, with the approval of the Secretary of National Defense,

promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective implementation of

provisions of this Decree except as provided in Section 9 above.

Section 12 Repealing Clause.

SEC. 12. Repealing Clause.—The provisions of

Republic Act No. 4864, otherwise known as the Police Act of 1966, as amended by

Presidential Decree No. 12, dated October 3, 1972; No. 12-A, dated October 4,

1972; No. 12-B, dated October 28, 1972; No. 263, dated August 2, 1973; No. 307,

dated October 9, 1973; No. 448, dated May 9, 1974; No. 580, dated November 13.

1974: No. 765, dated August 8, 1975 and the Revised Administrative Code, as

amended; the provisions of all City Charters and all other laws, decrees, orders

and rules and regulations which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or

modified accordingly.

Section 13 Effectivity.

SEC. 13. Effectivity.—This Decree takes effect upon

approval.

Done in the City of Manila this 27th day of July, in the year of Our Lord,

nineteen hundred and seventy-six.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the

Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA

Presidential

Assistant.