Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command

The Philippine Constabulary (PC) Metropolitan Command or MetroCom (Spanish:Comando Metropolitana de la Constabularia Filipina, COMMET) was created pursuant to Executive Order of the President on 14 July 1967 to supplement police forces within the Greater Manila Area and combat all forms of criminal activity.[1]

Establishment and mission

In the late 1960s, mobile patrol coverage of the metropolitan Manila area was considered inadequate due to increasing crime which strained the capabilities of the local police forces. On 14 July 1967, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos directed the organization of a special force to be known as the PC Metropolitan Command (MetroCom). It was to operate in the cities of Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan and Pasay, and in the municipalities of Marikina, Pasig, Makati, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Navotas, Malabon and Taguig.[1]

As crime continued to increase and become more severe in the greater Manila area, and smuggling and illegal fishing in the Manila Bay area became rampant, President Marcos issued Executive Order 120 on 16 February 1968 which expanded MetroCom into a Metropolitan Area Command (MAC).[2] MetroCom proved to be an efficient force supporting the municipal and city police forces in the Manila area.

On 8 July 1974, President Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 421, making MetroCom the basis for a regional police command for the future Metro Manila region. All local police departments within the capital area were joined under national government control as the Metropolitan Police Force (MPF) and overseen by the commander of MetroCom. On 8 August 8 1975, Presidential Decree 765 was issued to integrate the Philippine Constabulary with the Integrated National Police (INP) as a renewed service branch of the Armed Forces, not just for national defense but for the protection of public security and order. With this act, MetroCom and MPF were united under joint command.[3] By November 1975, with the formal designation of the National Capital Region, MetroCom was extended to cover what was then the municipality of Valenzuela.

Dissolution and replacement

Following the People Power Revolution in 1986, the PC-INP was replaced by the Philippine National Police (PNP) by an act of Congress in 1991.[4] From 1986 to 1991, in line with the democratization of the police forces of the republic, MetroCom was renamed the PC Capital Region Command (PCCAPCOM, Spanish:Comando del Region Capital de la Constabularia Filipina, COMRECAP-CF). In 1992, it was again renamed the PNP Capital Region Command (PNPCAPCOM, Comando del Region Capital de la Policia Nacional), the basis of the current National Capital Region Police Office.

Sources
  • The Constable, July 1971 Edition

References
  1. "Executive Order No. 76, s. 1967 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  2. "Executive Order No. 120, s. 1968 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  3. ALMARIO, MANUEL F. "The 'criminalization' of the PNP". Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  4. Farolan, Ramon. "Who authored law creating the PNP?". Retrieved 2018-11-01.

See also
  • Philippine National Security
  • Philippines Law Enforcement
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