PNP says it is ''good sign'' UP is willing to let security officers trained by police
The Philippine National Police ( PNP) on Thursday said it is a "good sign" that the University of the Philippines is open to have their security officers trained by them.
"That's a good sign. They admit that there is really a problem there. No less than the chair of Commission on Higher Education said that something is wrong inside," Police General Oscar Albayalde told reporters.
Albayalde said they received reports there are incidents of petty crimes and even rape cases not only from the Diliman campus but in their Los Baños campus.
"I'm sure in UP Diliman. That's a very big compound and that's no excuse on proliferation of illegal drugs so how can they monitor ( it)?," Albayalde said.
"They are not even intelligence-trained and they don't have police powers," he added.
He said campuses really need their help in terms of safety and security as they are the only one who can investigate and file charges.
"And this is not militarization," Albayalde clarified.
The PNP chief said it is better if security officers will be trained inside Camp Crame. "We have better facilities here," he said.
In a news report, UP said police officers can train their security officers inside the campus as long as there is "proper coordination".
The PNP, together with CHED and the Department of Interior and Local Government had a dialogue with school officials and representative where they discussed the PNP's role in keeping campuses safe while considering the academic freedom of students.
"We already pinpointed the specific problem and the university that we need to engage," said Albayalde.
He said they are willing to held dialogue inside the headquarters and also on neutral ground.
The dialogue pertains to the suggestion of the PNP to have police presence in universities and campuses to prevent students from being recruited by militant student groups reported to be communist fronts. Ella Dionisio/DMS
