Until the mid-1970s, the independent city and municipal police forces took charge of maintaining peace and order on a local level, and when necessary was reinforced by the Philippine Constabulary, the national gendarmerie that was a major branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The National Police Commission was established in 1966 to improve the professionalism and training of local police and exercised some supervisory authority over the police. However, this system was widely seen to have several serious defects such jurisdictional limitations, lack of uniformity, poor inter-agency coordination, disputes between police forces. Lastly, partisan politics infiltrated police employment, appointments, assignments, and promotions. Politicians frequently abused the police as private armies to protect their personal interests, since most civic police forces were under the control of the mayors. In order to correct such deficiencies, during Martial law in the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos the 1973 Constitution provided for amalgamation of the public safety forces. Several Presidential Decrees were subsequently issued, integrating the police, fire, and jail services of the 1,500 cities and municipalities into a unified national police and civil defense formation, the Integrated National Police, beginning in 1974. On 8 August 1975, Presidential Decree 765 officially established the joint command structure of the Philippine Constabulary and Integrated National Police. The arrangement became known as the Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police, and INP became also an element of the Armed Forces since it was then under supervision of the Constabulary. The commanding general of the Constabulary became in effect the Director General of the INP in a concurrent capacity, responsible to the Minister of National Defense and to the President. Approximately 10 percent of INP personnel were fire protection and prison officials. The Philippine National Police Academy provided training for INP officer cadets and was established in 1978 under the INP's Training Command, first at Fort Bonifacio in Makati and later at Camp Vicente Lim in Laguna province. At first the Academy offered a bachelor of science degree in public safety following a two-year course of study, and admission to the school was highly competitive. By 1982 this evolved to a 3-year course for future officers of the service, by this time with a specialized option for those studying to be either police officers, fire service officers, or jail service officers.
Criticism
The Integrated National Police was the subject of criticism, and officers were accused of involvement in illegal activities, violent acts and abuse, with corruption being a frequent charge. To save their public image, the government sponsored highly publicised programs to identify and punish police offenders, and training designed to raise their standard of appearance, conduct, and performance.
Duties
The Integrated National Police was assigned responsibility for public safety, protection of lives and property, enforcement of laws, and maintenance of peace and order throughout the nation. To carry out these responsibilities, it was given powers "to prevent crimes, effect the arrest of criminal offenders and provide for their detention and rehabilitation, prevent and control fires, investigate the commission of all crimes and offenses, bring the offenders to justice, and take all necessary steps to ensure public safety." The Philippine Constabulary retained responsibility for dealing with serious crimes or cases involving jurisdictions far apart from one another, and the INP took charge of less serious crimes and local traffic, crime prevention, and public safety.
Organization
The INP's organisation paralleled that of the PC in that the thirteen PC regional command headquarters were the nuclei for the Integrated National Police's regional commands. The constabulary's seventy-three provincial commanders, in their capacity as provincial police superintendents, had operational control of Integrated National Police forces in their respective provinces. Provinces were further subdivided into 147 police districts, stations, and substations in towns and cities. The constabulary was responsible for patrolling remote rural areas. In addition the provincial commanders were also operationally responsible for their respective area fire departments and prison services. In Metro Manila's four cities and thirteen municipalities, the Integrated National Police's Metropolitan Police Force shared the headquarters of the constabulary's Metropolitan Command. The commanding general of the Metropolitan Command was also the director of the INP's Metropolitan Police Force and directed the operations of the capital's four police, jail and fire districts.
Ranks and insignia
The INP, as a paramilitary national police force and due to its joint command with the PC, used the rank system of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in force at that timein keeping with the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1184. Its uniforms were similar to those of the PC but with differences, while many of the top ranks were filed by PC personnel.
Merger
On New Year's Day 1991, the INP was subsumed into the PC to form the Philippine National Police, which took responsibility for most former INP functions including the fire and penal services, The PNP assumed responsibility for the counterinsurgency effort from the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1993.
