“Palakasan” system in hiring new police officers is not allowed in the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), according to PRO-6 spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong.

Malong said they will not allow anybody to use their position in hiring new police officers, adding they will hire new cops based on their credentials and qualifications.

The PRO-6 will adopt the quick response (QR) code system in order to hide the applicants’ identity and to avoid the “palakasan” system, she said.

“This time we are very strict in hiring new sets of neophyte police personnel. We have to select the best applicants and those who have outstanding qualifications. This is also one way of avoiding corruption and illegal activities because we select the best applicants,” Malong said.

Recently, PNP chief General Guillermo Eleazar said that the PNP will adopt a QR code system in all the phases of the recruitment process, which would guarantee anonymity of the applicants.

Once the QR code will be used, influential persons could not know who is included in the quota. Only qualifications and credentials would be the basis to evaluate the applicants. The names of the applicants will be revealed in the final stage, Malong said.

As of this writing, there are already 1,300 applicants in Western Visayas who are on standby and waiting when to process their documents.

However, the PRO-6 has only a quota of 100 new cops for the first semester.

Meanwhile, the PNP has lowered the height limit for applicants which is now five feet tall for females and five feet two inches for males.

“We look forward to have more applicants after the height limit has been lowered. Many Ilonggos wanted to enter the government forces, but some of them failed because of the height limit,” Malong added. (Ruby Silubrico)/WDJ