If three hundred eighty-six cops from across the country managed to cheat in their 2011 exam, as the National Police Commission (Napolcom) confirmed when it ordered their dismissal from service last June 14, then there is little wonder why the Supreme Court is hesitant in regionalizing the bar exam in the country.
While Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno didn’t reject the proposal outright, she voiced concerns over the possible leakage of questions to be asked at the bar exam which is chosen one hour before the exam takes place.
She also said transmitting the questions via the Internet is impractical and fraught with risks due to the loose security protocols in the World Wide Web. But while that question’s settled for now, the more pressing concern is the fate of the 386 cops who supposedly cheated in the exam of whom 18 are said to be assigned in Cebu.
We don’t know for certain if these police officers did turn out right or if they were among those lured by the temptation of easy money that comes with the territory in serving in the country’s finest.
Then again, if they did cheat in the exam, what’s to stop them from engaging in acts of a criminal nature specifically profiting from the illegal drug trade or other criminal activities like gambling and prostitution?
It’s not as if the cheating controversy is confined in that 2011 police exam. The country had been hit with the nursing board exam controversy in 2006, which resulted in a wide-ranging probe that confirmed that a leakage did occur and the examinees had their applications for overseas work rejected.
In making their conclusion and issuing their dismissal, the Napolcom said it found a pattern of “wrong answers” in the exam that was statistically improbable and strongly indicated cheating among the examinees.
Their names were not listed of course out of a sense of respect perhaps and not to deny them any chance of future employment in another profession where hopefully they won’t have to cheat to succeed.
Naturally, the police officials voiced outrage over this incident but is this an isolated case? The Napolcom may want to go further back and see if the 2011 cheating case had been met with solutions aimed at preventing a repeat of that incident.
One of those who was dismissed from the service claimed that he did pass the exam and that he will soon be vindicated. We hope for his sake that he’s right.
Whether they cheated because they were desperate to find employment or wanted to be cops in order to protect and serve the country, the aberration that is the 2011 police board exam should be avoided at all costs.
It may not be as difficult as the other exams but it is one of several barometers in which the country can ensure its hiring of intelligent and capable people into its police force.
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