See - Guingona asks De Lima to recognize PNP chain of command | News | GMA News Online
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Citing additional documents, Sen. Teofisto Guingona on Tuesday said the Philippine National Police (PNP) also follows the chain of command, as he asked Justice Sec. Leila de Lima to reconsider her position that the said concept is a "military construct."
During the continuation of the Senate hearing on the Jan. 25 Mamasapano clash, Guingona made a manifestation and presented several documents, among them the PNP manual, Executive Order 40 from February 1993, and two Supreme Court cases, all of which supposedly recognize the PNP chain of command.
De Lima said she will look into the cases mentioned by Guingona to find out “if there is discussion about the distinction between the command structure of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) as opposed to the PNP.”
She added that after reviewing Executive Order 226 of 1975, which Guingona asked her to check on Monday, "I would put forward the position that command responsibility and the doctrine of command or superior responsibility are actually two distinct concepts and EO 226 does not necessarily say that the chain of command is present in civilian organizations."
EO 226 is the "institutionalization of the doctrine of 'command responsibility' in all government offices, particularly at all levels of command in the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies."
If chain of command goes for the PNP as well, "it would mean that all civilian offices will have a chain of command structure," De Lima said.
In previous hearings, the Justice secretary said possible liabilities of police officials involved in the Mamasapano incident must be determined using civil service rules and not according to the military law, which is stricter when it comes to the chain of command.
“The concept of chain of command is a military construct. According to Article 6 Section 16 of the Constitution, the PNP is not strictly bound by chain of command. The PNP is considered a civilian agency,” she said. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News.
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