City officials recently mandated the Permits and Licensing Division (PLD) and the Public Order and Safety Division (POSD), both under the City Mayor’s Office, in coordination with the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) to inspect all businesses in the city engaged in the manufacture, sale, or distribution of Philippine National Police (PNP) uniforms, insignias and other accoutrements and require them to secure a PNP certificate of conformity pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Executive Order (EO) 297, series of 2000.
Under Resolution No. 234, series of 2024, local legislators stated that on September 3, 2020, the PNP Directorate for Research and Development (DRD) issued Standard Operating Procedure No. 2020-001 prescribing the procedures and guidelines in handling samples of PNP uniforms and accoutrements to ensure the integrity of the submitted samples as a basis for issuance of certificate of conformity.
For the effective implementation of the resolution, the PNP shall be integrated into the online unified business permit application system of the city to ensure that all covered establishment engaged in the manufacturing, selling, and distribution of PNP uniforms, insignias, and other accoutrements applying for a business permit shall be evaluated by a dedicated PNP personnel; the PNP shall submit to the city a negative list of registered covered establishments that failed to secure the certificate of conformity; failure to secure a certificate of conformity or present the same during the inspection shall warrant the issuance of an appropriate notice of violation and in case of violation found during the inspections for failure to present competent proof of authority to deal with PNP uniforms, insignias and other accoutrements, the items found therein shall be seized or confiscated subject to proper disposal without prejudice to the revocation of business permit and the filing of an appropriate administrative, civil or criminal case.
The council stipulated that the PLD and POSD need to be authorized and mandated, in coordination with the PNP, to periodically conduct joint inspections of covered business establishments requiring the presentation of its respective certificates of conformity pursuant to EO 297.
According to the body, there are several establishments that engage in the manufacture, sale and distribution of PNP uniforms, insignias, and other accoutrements and there is a dire need to enact a corresponding ordinance to mitigate or even eradicate the proliferation of the unauthorized PNP uniforms and commission of illegal activities in the city.
The council added that EO 297 was signed On October 4, 2000 to control and manage the unauthorized manufacture, sale and distribution of PNP uniforms, insignias and other accoutrements and imposes penalties on the immediate closure of establishments, cancellation of business permits or licenses, condemnation, seizure and forfeiture of unauthorized items and imposition of reasonable fines for violations of the said order, all of which could be undertaken by the local government concerned.
The council pointed out that the unauthorized manufacture, sale, use and distribution of PNP uniforms, insignias and other accoutrements impose serious concerns since such symbolic PNP identifiers, instead of providing a comforting sense of security, could be used by lawless elements in the commission of crimes. By Dexter A. See
