No such thing as 'quota arrests' in PNP –acting chief

NO SUCH THING. Acting Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. holds a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday (Sept. 1, 2025). He denied that there is such a thing as "quota arrest" in the police organization. (PNA Photo by Lloyd Caliwan)

MANILA – Acting Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Monday said there is no quota system on arrested persons within the police force.

"There is no such thing as quota arrests," Nartatez said during a press briefing at Camp Crame, adding that police operations are conducted based on intelligence information.

"It (operation) is intel(ligence)-based. We sent out priority intelligence requirements and then from periodically or a daily basis, on essential elements of information na dumarating (that come in), we process that and that intelligence information, investigation information, those are the basis of our operations," he explained.

Nartatez was responding to the call of detainee rights advocacy group Kapatid, which wanted him to reverse the pronouncement of his predecessor, former PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III, regarding measuring a police officer's performance through the number of arrests he or she makes.

During the same briefing, Nartatez also reported the recent key accomplishments of the PNP in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s call for a disciplined, responsive, and humane police force.

He said from Aug. 22 to 28, the PNP conducted 924 operations that resulted in the arrest of 1,055 suspects and confiscation of 5,555 grams of shabu, 665 pieces of dried marijuana leaves, and 3,170 marijuana plants with estimated value of PHP38.4 million.

An operation in Barangay Rio Hondo in Zamboanga City on Aug. 31, meanwhile, led to the arrest of three male drug suspects and confiscation of around 89 kilograms of suspected shabu concealed in Chinese tea bags, with an estimated value of PHP605.2 million.

"These are just some of the operations that highlight our continuing enforcement of the law for the safety of the public, in line with the call of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for a disciplined, responsive, and humane police service," Nartatez said.

Regarding the campaign against wanted persons, Nartatez said police units successfully arrested 1,059 individuals, including 236 listed as "most wanted." (PNA)

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