Taking Care of The Ones Keeping Us Safe: PSMBFI and Medicare Plus Inc.

More protection will now be possible for those who protect us in the country as PSMBFI (Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund Inc.) signed with Medicare Plus Inc. this morning at Discovery Suites in Manila. 

It was officiated by PNP Chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil, Jayjay Viray CEO of Medicare Plus Inc., Jason Jalandoni the Chief Business Development Officer, Benjamin Santos the Chairman of PSMBFI, and Emmanuel Peralta the President and CEO of PSMBFI.

Ms. Jayjay Viray says "When we proposed to take on the PNP, a lot of people discouraged us because they are high risk. Yet, here we are. Our commitment is solid, we are here to support you."

General Marbil says "Great morning everyone. I just want to say, there are two problems in the PNP. They are not protected. We are doing good but not protected. We can't put advances in funds, but have to reimburse things. Big time people, who have money, they have the best lawyers but we have in house ones for legal assistance. Our good lawyers can compete, but we also have those who get sick. So many policemen get in danger, but don't get great medical attention they deserve. It costs us a lot, and it comes out of our pockets unless from our hospital. We pay first, then reimburse, that's the system. It's debt that can be paid after six months. Aside from that, those who get sick can only get 300k, so getting sick is again expensive. More or less 420k per police men per year. A lot resort to borrowing money, also to loan sharks, but that's how the law works. We have to protect them in legal and health. I'm so happy that Medicare Plus took in the PNP. In the new Philippines, the PNP only wants you to be safe."

General Benjamin Santos adds "Our PNP Chief has been advocating this and those who are PSMBFI members are those we only could help. We were prudent in spending, we earned a lot but we want to give it back to PNP. During one of our sessions, we talked about hospitalization for our men and women, and the expansion of HMO was decided. From Legal and Travel assistance, 300 Million will be given in the next 5 years. The HMO, we allotted 601 Million for 1 year. Lastly, the IT system need to get our processes streamlined. We accomplished 2 things with the legal and this HMO, so Medicare Plus, thank you for being our partners. We want this to be a proof of concept, we don't know but we allocated a lot for this. If this is successful, we will expand this to other members. Soon, we can have the whole PNP. When we started this, we wanted to give the protection they deserve while they serve and protect us. With this, I hope those who are not PSMBFI members become members now. It'll be for the best and peace of mind."

This is a milestone for both the government and the new Medicare Plus members that this will entail. PNP members are highly encouraged to join PSMBFI as they continue to expand more benefits especially for those who protect us in and outside the country.

Get To Know Your PNP Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil

With word getting round that he's getting a lot of unnecessary detractors (and fake news), the humble PNP Chief took time to talk to the media over coffee this evening. This was certainly an opportune time to get to know PNP Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil, and his plans for the police force.

The PNP Chief reiterated the role of the PNP, particularly to enforce laws and prevent crimes before it even happens. He also added the importance of public safety, giving us security, and the need of the support of LGU's... and the whole community.

At this day and age, cyber crime is quite rampant. He is adamant that your PNP still is relevant at this time. He treats these not as problems, but challenges that can be overcome by the organization by facing it head on. Syndicates are different now, which is why they continue to improve the way they do things in the force.

Here's the short talk we had with him over coffee and Beef Turnovers (made by the good people of Dark Roast Coffee House).

He also wants to further improve response times, a relatively improved 911 emergency network, have CCTV connections also centralized so they could also prevent crimes with it. He also doesn't believe in the term "War on Drugs", a war has an end and his is a continuous system to fight it instead. He deems this isn't just a problem for the Philippines, but other countries too, and they're not letting them off easy.

The PNP Chief and the whole organization would want you and your family to go home safe after a day's hard work. You also need to be protected even in your sleep as cyber attacks happen at any time of the day.

We often just see him in police beat interviews, and this way to get to know him was a good way to know how personal he's treating things are in the PNP. Change don't come overnight, but from what we're seeing, he's making efforts to do it for Filipinos. 

He knows we have a lot of concerns right now, but here's hoping the good man and the whole Philippine National Police get to resolve things... one issue at a time.

Office of PNP Chief Marbil Issues Statement on False Information in Social Media

Recent pronouncements, malicious attacks on social media has gotten the office of the PNP Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil worried where they insinuate removal of rice allowances for PNP personnel and having them donated to persons deprived of liberty. These are being strongly denied, unfounded and baseless as there have been no directives from their office, nor do they have plans to do so. These moves have been orchestrated to discredit the PNP Chief who has been working hard to restore reputation through smart methods. They say these are outright lies, fabricated, made to malign his policies.

PNP Chief Marbil is not using the word WAR in addressing operations in substance abuse, as he doesn't want to be associated with human rights abuse in the past. His office has noted essential reforms as of recent:

Mass formation and Flag Raising (15-20 minutes)

Personnel should be present and operational at 8am sharp 

Prohibit the use of cellphones while on patrol

Simplification of personnel compliance 

New UPER Criteria

Finish 70 percent of warrants and wanted individuals

No favoritism in promotions and assignments

Non exclusivity of promotions

Restriction of Police Community Relations

Non re-assignment of PNP personnel facing cases on their previous units

Meetings to be conducted online to maximize time for unit commanders

No changes for one month

Removal of 24 hour duty for personnel

They also deny the inclusions of inverted crawls in the PNP Physical Fitness Test. They also deny false information about donation of allowances as CIP, CDP, and rice subsidies are automatically added on regular salaries.

Respondents are forewarned that such accusations and lies will not be tolerated, and a thorough investigation is being done. People found at fault will be sanctioned.

He also urges the public to be vigilant and only believe verified information. Trust that the PNP under Chief Marbil and his office will serve and protect you, the Filipino people, with professionalism and integrity.