We had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Mary Rose Marbil, wife of PNP Chief Rommel Marbik a few months ago. She explained to us briefly the initiatives of PNP OLC Foundation Inc. which has now continued to do projects involved in health, family and aspirations of those who are in need while in service. She used to work for private corporations but now use her skills to better organize the foundation to push their shared vision for uniformed and non uniformed personnel, and their beneficiaries.
As of now, they are putting emphasis and help for those suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and various kinds of cancer which comprise over 80 percent of their beneficiaries.
Aside from that, their LAB (Love and Blessings) Virus program provide monetary support and needed health kits for those who are under 17 Police regions which she also relentlessly tries to visit on a regular basis to make sure their health concerns get addressed to this day.
She also worked with the Quezon City LGU to put up the Child Development Center inside Camp Crame for Early Childhood care for those who are working under the government arm. They are also pushing for upgrades of medical facilities inside the camp, to better serve their community.
More protection will now be possible for those who protect us in the country as PSMBFI (Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund Inc.) signed with Medicare Plus Inc. this morning at Discovery Suites in Manila.
It was officiated by PNP Chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil, Jayjay Viray CEO of Medicare Plus Inc., Jason Jalandoni the Chief Business Development Officer, Benjamin Santos the Chairman of PSMBFI, and Emmanuel Peralta the President and CEO of PSMBFI.
Ms. Jayjay Viray says "When we proposed to take on the PNP, a lot of people discouraged us because they are high risk. Yet, here we are. Our commitment is solid, we are here to support you."
General Marbil says "Great morning everyone. I just want to say, there are two problems in the PNP. They are not protected. We are doing good but not protected. We can't put advances in funds, but have to reimburse things. Big time people, who have money, they have the best lawyers but we have in house ones for legal assistance. Our good lawyers can compete, but we also have those who get sick. So many policemen get in danger, but don't get great medical attention they deserve. It costs us a lot, and it comes out of our pockets unless from our hospital. We pay first, then reimburse, that's the system. It's debt that can be paid after six months. Aside from that, those who get sick can only get 300k, so getting sick is again expensive. More or less 420k per police men per year. A lot resort to borrowing money, also to loan sharks, but that's how the law works. We have to protect them in legal and health. I'm so happy that Medicare Plus took in the PNP. In the new Philippines, the PNP only wants you to be safe."
General Benjamin Santos adds "Our PNP Chief has been advocating this and those who are PSMBFI members are those we only could help. We were prudent in spending, we earned a lot but we want to give it back to PNP. During one of our sessions, we talked about hospitalization for our men and women, and the expansion of HMO was decided. From Legal and Travel assistance, 300 Million will be given in the next 5 years. The HMO, we allotted 601 Million for 1 year. Lastly, the IT system need to get our processes streamlined. We accomplished 2 things with the legal and this HMO, so Medicare Plus, thank you for being our partners. We want this to be a proof of concept, we don't know but we allocated a lot for this. If this is successful, we will expand this to other members. Soon, we can have the whole PNP. When we started this, we wanted to give the protection they deserve while they serve and protect us. With this, I hope those who are not PSMBFI members become members now. It'll be for the best and peace of mind."
This is a milestone for both the government and the new Medicare Plus members that this will entail. PNP members are highly encouraged to join PSMBFI as they continue to expand more benefits especially for those who protect us in and outside the country.
With word getting round that he's getting a lot of unnecessary detractors (and fake news), the humble PNP Chief took time to talk to the media over coffee this evening. This was certainly an opportune time to get to know PNP Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil, and his plans for the police force.
The PNP Chief reiterated the role of the PNP, particularly to enforce laws and prevent crimes before it even happens. He also added the importance of public safety, giving us security, and the need of the support of LGU's... and the whole community.
At this day and age, cyber crime is quite rampant. He is adamant that your PNP still is relevant at this time. He treats these not as problems, but challenges that can be overcome by the organization by facing it head on. Syndicates are different now, which is why they continue to improve the way they do things in the force.
Here's the short talk we had with him over coffee and Beef Turnovers (made by the good people of Dark Roast Coffee House).
He also wants to further improve response times, a relatively improved 911 emergency network, have CCTV connections also centralized so they could also prevent crimes with it. He also doesn't believe in the term "War on Drugs", a war has an end and his is a continuous system to fight it instead. He deems this isn't just a problem for the Philippines, but other countries too, and they're not letting them off easy.
The PNP Chief and the whole organization would want you and your family to go home safe after a day's hard work. You also need to be protected even in your sleep as cyber attacks happen at any time of the day.
We often just see him in police beat interviews, and this way to get to know him was a good way to know how personal he's treating things are in the PNP. Change don't come overnight, but from what we're seeing, he's making efforts to do it for Filipinos.
He knows we have a lot of concerns right now, but here's hoping the good man and the whole Philippine National Police get to resolve things... one issue at a time.
Recent pronouncements, malicious attacks on social media has gotten the office of the PNP Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil worried where they insinuate removal of rice allowances for PNP personnel and having them donated to persons deprived of liberty. These are being strongly denied, unfounded and baseless as there have been no directives from their office, nor do they have plans to do so. These moves have been orchestrated to discredit the PNP Chief who has been working hard to restore reputation through smart methods. They say these are outright lies, fabricated, made to malign his policies.
PNP Chief Marbil is not using the word WAR in addressing operations in substance abuse, as he doesn't want to be associated with human rights abuse in the past. His office has noted essential reforms as of recent:
Mass formation and Flag Raising (15-20 minutes)
Personnel should be present and operational at 8am sharp
Prohibit the use of cellphones while on patrol
Simplification of personnel compliance
New UPER Criteria
Finish 70 percent of warrants and wanted individuals
No favoritism in promotions and assignments
Non exclusivity of promotions
Restriction of Police Community Relations
Non re-assignment of PNP personnel facing cases on their previous units
Meetings to be conducted online to maximize time for unit commanders
No changes for one month
Removal of 24 hour duty for personnel
They also deny the inclusions of inverted crawls in the PNP Physical Fitness Test. They also deny false information about donation of allowances as CIP, CDP, and rice subsidies are automatically added on regular salaries.
Respondents are forewarned that such accusations and lies will not be tolerated, and a thorough investigation is being done. People found at fault will be sanctioned.
He also urges the public to be vigilant and only believe verified information. Trust that the PNP under Chief Marbil and his office will serve and protect you, the Filipino people, with professionalism and integrity.
Back from the very successful games last year, UNTV now presents UNTV Cup Season 2 and this time it's even BIGGER than ever because there will be 10 teams joining this charity. They are the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP Cavaliers), Congress (Congress Legislators), Department of Justice (DOJ Hunters), Local Government Unit (LGU), Malacañang Palace, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA Equalizers), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth Advocates), Philippine Judiciary, Philippine National Police (PNP Responders) and Senate. Malacanang and Philippine Senate teams are new additions whilst LGU separated from congress building the official list.
Commissioners say that this would be a great venue to get together and help their chosen charities. Aside from that, change the public perception about these offices and get them informed about their individual projects so people can tell that they are doing something. Ka Daniel Razon admits that most of of them are victims of bias media reporting. He says "Sometimes the news isn't what we want to hear, we would like to request that each department should have a reportage team and UNTV will give proper space in newscast without any edits. Content will be all yours. Bring forth what you want the people to hear. It will be a good vehicle for your agencies to reach the proper audience."
He also welcomed new teams like the Senate, Malacanang and LGU's (which separated from Congress) and was happy that it completes the 10 team lineup they were gunning for. They are planning to have three point shootouts plus an all star game later on and they have noted to get some players that have not been able to qualify in the games too.
Charities are going to be chosen by the respective teams and UNTV will not suggest so as to not have influence over it. They are monitoring these agencies silently and have ensured the money is going to them. They are also considering to put up Volleyball matches for women soon but that is still in the works. They would like to ask the agencies how UNTV can help, that alone is satisfying. All games will be also played in historic Smart Araneta Coliseum and broadcasted live every Sunday at 2:30PM in UNTV. It will also be streamed online at http://www.untvweb.com.
All 15 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Forces are okay in Haiti after they have experienced a 7 magnitude earthquake at around 5PM EST. This has been confirmed by PNP Spokesman Leonardo Espina in a press conference held in Camp Crame.
Espina said that Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Fuentes headed the PNP Contingent and among them are 5 officials and 10 Police Non-Commissioned Officers. There was a huge difficulty in getting information even on satellite phones on that day. They have re established contact through e-mail around 3:30PM that confirmed all 15 policemen are fine in the midst of that strong earthquake which is the strongest they have felt in around 200 years.
Espina also added that with his talk with Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Affairs Office that out of the 155 soldiers that were there, nobody was hurt.
Earlier this day, there were reports that they were trapped under the rubble of the United Nations office in the said country.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the other hand is finding it difficult to have information on Filipino conditions in Haiti. DFA Spokesman Attorney Ed Malaya said that the primary lines of communication on the said island have totally been disabled by this catastrophe. Even the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York, USA, could not contact the Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent in Haiti.
Aside from the Philippine troops, there are around 447 Pinoys that have not been still contacted. Malaya said that the DFA and their people from the Philippine Embassy in Cuba have been sent to check on the conditions of the Filipinos there. I wish they and the people in the island are safe.
