Philippines needs 14,000 policemen to address terror threats

Applicants were encouraged to visit the PNP Online Recruitment Application system to be properly guided on how to undergo the selection process.

Philippines needs 14,000 policemen to address terror threats
Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Forces are onboard a PNP vehicle Reuters

With the increasing security threat in the Philippines, the Philippine National Police announced that it needs 14, 484 policemen to address its manpower shortage this year.

The Philippines is expected to hire 10,000 police officers through its regular recruitment program. They will also accept another 4,884 applicants to replace police retirees or those who were administratively expelled from the service.

This announcement was made by Police Director Juvenal Barbosa of the PNP's recruitment and selection division who also said that the police organization will also need 545 technical service officers like nurses and dentists.

Applicants were encouraged to visit the PNP Online Recruitment Application system to be properly guided on how to undergo the selection process.

While the Philippine National Police has 170,000 active police and non- uniformed personnel deployed in different parts of the country, the Philippine population has also increased to 100 million.

The ideal ratio to prevent and control crime in any country is one police officer for every 500 civilians but due to budget constraints, the Philippine government could not meet its target.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also announced this year that it also needs to recruit additional 10,000 soldiers to address security threats in the country. The AFP has so far 135,000 soldiers and 80,000 of them belong to the Philippine army.

AFP public affairs office Head Col. Edgardo Arevalo said that the soldiers recruitment campaign has long been sought because of the increasing threats of rising militants in the countryside.

The soldiers and police professions also have become attractive to applicants because of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's announcement that he would increase the salaries and benefits of soldiers and police officers in the country.

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