QuestionsQuestions (NAPOLCOM Resolution NO. 2011-077)
It is anchored on the Commission’s constitutional and statutory authority to administer and control the PNP and on the interpretation/amendment of provisions of R.A. No. 8551—specifically Section 25 and its IRR, Section 27.
It generally prohibits them from being promoted to a higher rank or from being appointed to any other position.
The PNP took the position that the one-year bar applies only to promotions, not to placements/designations/assignments—i.e., an officer may still be assigned to a position as long as it does not involve promotion to a higher rank.
The DOJ stressed that Section 25 clearly applies to “promotion and appointment,” not to designation and assignment. It agreed that “appointment” concerns rank rather than the specific position, while designation/assignment are merely additional duties and do not automatically carry an appointment.
An appointment is the selection by the appointing authority of an individual to exercise the functions of a given office; once completed, it confers security of tenure unless the nature of the office makes the person replaceable at pleasure. Designation, on the other hand, merely imposes additional duties on an incumbent official to be performed in a special manner.
It clarified that, except for the Chief, PNP, no PNP member with less than one (1) year of service before compulsory retirement shall be promoted to a higher rank or appointed to any other position that calls for a higher rank.
The words “designated or assigned” in the last paragraph of Section 27 of the IRR were considered to have unduly expanded the law’s scope and were ordered to be deleted.
It amended it to read that no PNP member (except the Chief, PNP) with less than one year before compulsory retirement shall be promoted to a higher rank or appointed to any other position that calls for a higher rank—removing “designated or assigned.”
It stressed that the DOJ/NAPOLCOM interpretation supports and bolsters the Chief, PNP’s authority to control tactical and strategic movements and deployment/placement/utilization of personnel and resources, thus aligning personnel management with statutory command authority.
Yes. Since the one-year bar is clarified to apply to promotion to a higher rank and appointment to a position that calls for a higher rank (and not designation/assignment), an assignment that does not entail promotion to a higher rank is generally allowed.
No. Following the Resolution’s acceptance of DOJ’s distinction, designation adds duties but does not necessarily amount to an appointment; the prohibition is tied to promotion to a higher rank or appointment to a position that calls for a higher rank.
No. The Resolution clarified that appointments are prohibited when they involve a position that calls for a higher rank.
The Chief, PNP.
It narrows the IRR’s scope so that the restriction aligns with the statute: designation and assignment are not covered by the one-year bar, while promotion to higher rank and appointment to positions requiring higher rank remain restricted.
It takes effect fifteen (15) days from the date of publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation and filing with the UP Law Center, consistent with the Administrative Code of 1987.
It means the IRR provision exceeded or contradicted the statute’s intended scope. Therefore, those IRR words were invalid/ineffective to the extent of the inconsistency and were ordered deleted.