The Philippine National Police Academy[1] (Tagalog: Akademiyang Pampulisya ng

Pilipinas) or PNPA, is the Philippine public safety school of the Philippine

National Police (PNP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Bureau
of Fire Protection (BFP). PNPA was established on August 26, 1977 by the virtue of
Section 19, PD 1184 and was tasked to provide tertiary level education to the three
(3) services of the Department of Interior and Local Government.[2]

Contents
1 History
1.1 Creation of the Academy
1.2 Opening up to the present
2 Curriculum
3 Phases of Cadetship
4 Rites
5 PNPA Classes
6 See also
7 References
History
In the early 1960s, policemen were hired purely on the basis of personal relations
with influential personalities and government officials. City and municipal
policemen were after being hired, sworn in, and issued weapons. Despite their lack
of knowledge on the police system, they were given the responsibility of
safeguarding and protecting the community.

The police organization then had no code of conduct. The police service then
required neither entry standards nor appropriate training, and had no consistent
promotional policies. However, substantial improvements were achieved with the
passage of Republic Act 4864 on September 6, 1966, known as the “Police Act of
1966”. That law provided for the establishment of the Police Commission and was
renamed National Police Commission under the Office of the President of the
Philippines.

Among the powers, duties and responsibilities of the National Police Commission
were to advise the President on all matters involving local police administration,
examine and audit the performance, activities and facilities of all local police
agencies throughout the country, promulgate a police manual prescribing rules and
regulations for the efficient organization, administration, and operation of the
local police, including their recruitment, selection and promotion, organize and
develop police training programs and operate police training centers, and establish
a system of Uniform Crime Reporting.

Upon approval of this Police Act, appointment to a local police agency was made by
the mayor from the list of eligibles certified by the Civil Service Commission,
provided that all appointments were on probationary basis for a period of six
months. After that an evaluation and recommendation report for retention or
termination by the Chief of Police was required prior to the expiration of the
probationary period.

The set up was not without its concomitant pitfalls. Training was limited to police
service personnel only. Moreover, the system itself lent to locally based,
individualized and separate local police units that led to the marked preponderance
of political influence and interference over the police forces. Mainly for these
reasons, the government opted to integrate all city and municipal police, fire and
jail services into a unified national organization.

A series of police integration laws culminated on August 8, 1975 in the

promulgation of Presidential Decree (PD) 765 constituting the Integrated National
Police or INP, providing for the unification of the then separate city and
municipal police, fire and jail services in existence within the territory of the
Republic. These integrated forces were placed under the operational control of the
Philippine Constabulary, by itself an Armed Forces of the Philippines Major Service
Command, under the responsibility of the Department of National Defense via the
office of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces through the Chief of Constabulary
and this served a nucelus to the new organization.

The new INP was thus made responsible for public safety, protection of lives and
properties, enforcement of laws and maintenance of peace and order within the
territorial limits of the Philippines. It had the power to prevent crimes, effect
and arrest of criminal offenders and provide for their detention and
rehabilitation. It took necessary measures to prevent and control fires,
investigate the commission of all crimes and offenses and bring the offenders to
justice, all the while to take every necessary step to insure public safety.

The power of the administrative supervision and control by the city and municipal
governments over their respective local police, jail and fire departments was
transferred to the Chief of Constabulary as Director-General of the Integrated
National Police in August 1975.

The powers and functions of the National Police Commission in the training of
policemen was the establishment of the integrated police communication system, the
grant of police salary subsidy, and the adjudication and grant of compensation for
temporary disability benefits, were transferred to the Integrated National Police,
including all appropriate personnel and staff, records and equipment and other
resources appertaining thereto, except for the powers and functions vested in and
exercised by the NPC. It's powers and functions were the attestation of
appointments, examination, investigation, adjudication and review of police
administrative disciplinary cases, adjudication and grant of compensation for
permanent disability and death benefits, staff inspection and audit, which were
extended to the police, fire, and jail components of the INP.

Creation of the Academy

Thus, the police, fire and jail services were unified into a single, paramilitary
law enforcecment organization and the responsibility of training INP personnel was
transferred from the National Police Commission on July 1, 1976 to the Integrated
National Police Training Command including the 13 regional training centers
throughout the country as mandated by Presidential Decree (PD) 765, signed by then
President Ferdinand Marcos. It was the first step towards the creation of an
official officer academy for the aformentioned services.

On August 26, 1977, PD 1184, otherwise known as the “INP Personnel

Professionalization Law of 1977”, proposed for the creation of the Philippine
National Police Academy (PNPA). Immediately after the promulgation of PD 1184, the
then chief of Constabulary and concurrently Director General of the Integrated
National Police, Major General Fidel V. Ramos (later the President of the
Philippines) created a study committee to prepare the corresponding feasibility
study and all other prerequisites for the activation of the envisioned PNPA based
on PD 1184.

Section 19 of said decree provided that “there shall be established in the

Integrated National Police a premiere police service training institution to be
known as the Philippine National Police Academy for the education and training of
the members of the INP.”

In February 1978, General Ramos recommended to Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, then
Minister of National Defense, for the activation of the Philippine National Police
Academy. As a result of the recommendation, Ministry of National Defense (MND)
Order No. 83 was issued on May 25, 1978 activating the Philippine National Police
Academy effective June 12, 1978 in line with the national objective to upgrade the
law enforcement service in the country.

Opening up to the present

Pursuant to said Ministry Order, General Orders No. 23-P of Headquarters Philippine
Constabulary / Integrated National Police dated 23 June 1978 formally announced the
activation of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA). The speed that
characterized the creation and establishment of the new PNPA was a clear indication
of the important role of the institution in the professional development of police
officers in the country. In fact, its actual operations began even before its
formal inauguration. It conducted entrance examinations for cadetship on May 28 and
June 4, 1978 to select the best applicants for its first batch of cadets.

When the formal inauguration took place on June 30, 2978, the cadets had to share
quarters with the INP Training Command at Fort Bonifacio in Makati for more than
two months before it moved to Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba, Laguna as its training
venue on August 19, 1978. The apparent infancy of the Academy presented such as
lack of formal organization, staffing and a training site. This was, however,
resolved by having the Integrated National Police Training Command Headquarters at
Fort Bonifacio serve as surrogate organization of the Academy.

Simultaneously with the formal establishment of the Academy, the first batch of
police cadets was chosen after a rigorous and painstaking selection process –
including thorough medical and psychiatric examinations that took place on June 30,
1978. Formal academic instructions started on July 17, 1978 with 50 cadets, in
formal ceremonies at Fort Bonifacio in the present Philippine Public Safety College
grounds. Two years later, 45 of them finally graduated to compose the first
Bachelor of Science in Public Safety (BSPS) graduates – the Maharlika Class of
1980, commissioned Police Lieutenants.

During its initial years of existence, the Academy limited the admission of its
student-cadets to the two-year Bachelor of Science in Public Safety (BSPS) for
qualified members of the Integrated National Police (INP) only. This meant that
applicants outside the Integrated National Police (INP) services were not accepted
in the cadetship program.

When the Philippine National Police Academy was about to complete its third year of
existence, the Academy modified its admission requirements to include civilian
applicants.

On January 15, 1981, less than three years after its establishment, the Academy was
granted its Academic Charter through the promulgation of Presidential Decree 1780,
otherwise known as “The Philippine National Police Academy Charter of 1981.” This
decree elevated the Academy to the status as the premiere educational and training
institution of the country’s national police force.

Thus, the Philippine National Police Academy was specifically tasked “to develop
and conduct comprehensive education and training programs with the view of
Professionalizing the personnel in every level of command of the Integrated
National Police.”

The 1978 Bachelor of Science in Public Safety (BSPS) curriculum underwent

curriculum and training revisions and modifications which brought about the
transition from two years to a three-year curriculum, giving emphasis on the
separate specialized areas for cadets who would opt for either the police, fire and
jail services. In 1991, by virtue of the enactment of Republic Act 6975, otherwise
known as the “Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990”, the INP
became part of a new Philippine National Police, while its fire and jail branches
were split, becoming both the Bureau of Fire Protection and Bureau of Jail
Management and Penology, respectively, all three falling under the Department of
Interior and Local Government. The PNPA remained the official joint officer
training institution for the public security services of the republic. Finally, on
April 13, 1994, the PNPA found its new and permanent home when it moved to Camp
General Mariano N. Castañeda at Silang, Cavite.

By virtue of the provisions of RA6975, The PNPA became a primary component of the
Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC), the institution which was mandated as the
premier institution for the training, human resource development and continuing
education of all police, fire and jail personnel.

It was in January 1997, under the leadership of Police Chief Superintendent Rufino
G. Ibay, Jr. that the proposal to revise the Bachelor of Science in Public Safety
(BSPS) course into a four-year program was favorably endorsed by then Philippine
Public Safety College (PPSC) President Guillermo P. Enriquez, Jr. that led to its
eventual approval by the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) Board of Trustees
which is composed of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
Secretary as Chairman, the head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of
Fire Protection (BFP) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) as members,
and the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) President as ex-officio member.

Since the Academy moved to Camp General Mariano N Castañeda, Silang, Cavite in 1994
as its new and permanent home, its facilities have been continuously upgraded to
make the Academy conducive for learning.