More than a hundred police personnel did not show up at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City where a C-130 aircraft left early Tuesday carrying alleged scalawag cops to Basilan province.

Of the 200 plus cops on the list, only 53 heeded the order of President Rodrigo Duterte and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and flew to Basilan. The other 40 have been excused as they would attend court hearings for their pending charges.

BACKSTORY: Duterte dresses down erring police officers

The 53 personnel from the National Capital Region Police Office will be deployed as members of the “Task Force South” to man checkpoints, secure urban and town centers.

“The 53 who boarded today, were following the order of the command. ‘Yung hindi pumunta (those who did not show), it only shows their defiance, itong mga pulis na ito (these policemen) definitely they will have to face another administrative charge,” PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos said in an interview at Camp Crame.

He said cops who failed to report at Villamor Airbase will be marked AWOL and will be charged again for “defiance to the lawful order of the commander in chief.”

Carlos, however, said their disobedience does not mean the PNP has a problem in its leadership, but in its men.

“Hindi ang leadership ang may problema. ‘Yung mga ugali na nakikita natin (It is not the leadership which has a problem. The attitude we are seeing), that only shows, that they are digging their own grave or exit from the service,” he said.

A total of 228 erring cops recently faced the President in Malacañang. As punishment, Duterte said he will send them to war-torn provinces, particularly in Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, to fight Abu Sayyaf terrorists there.

READ: Throwing police scalawags to Mindanao an insult—bishop

But Carlos reiterated that the transfer of these cops is a regular procedure being done in the PNP. Under rules of the National Police Commission, reassignment should not be done as a sanction against errant personnel.

“The transfer and reassignment of the PNP personnel is a regular activity, or a regular procedure in the PNP. We need additional personnel sa (for) Task Force South. And the order of the commander in chief is to fill up that requirement,” he said. IDL/rga

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