THE Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) has celebrated its 31st anniversary as one of the nation's special higher education institutions. The role of PPSC to ensure peace, public order and societal security cannot be understated.
Republic Act 6975 established the PPSC as the premier school for the training, human resource development and continuing education of all personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP), and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). Most uniformed officers from these tri-bureaus are graduates of the PPSC. It is not surprising that the PPSC has left a lasting impression on them for years to come.
Throughout PPSC's 31-year journey, no college president, in my opinion, has made a profound impact on the institution than Police Lt. Gen. Ricardo de Leon, PhD. During his tenure, he made innovative reforms that transformed PPSC's curricula, instructors, learning design and facilities. PPSC transferred to a new main building during his time. He revitalized its graduate degree programs through the Master in Public Safety Administration (MPSA), Master in Crisis and Disaster Risk Management (MCDRM) and the Doctor in Public Safety, Security and Governance (DPSG). Rather than competition, de Leon promoted collaboration with different universities, partners and international agencies. He opened the PPSC to non-uniformed government and private officials as enrollees. Furthermore, he saw that the PPSC recruited the best intellectual minds from top universities and organizations abroad to lecture and share their knowledge. Indeed, he was a trailblazer and transformative leader who broke down walls to learning and even reconceptualized the Homeland Security and Safety model. Upon de Leon's appointment as head of the National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency (NICA), Police Brig. Gen. Ferdinando G. Sevilla, PhD, assumed the presidency of PPSC and sustained de Leon's programs with relentless vitality.
The PPSC now faces new geopolitical challenges in a dangerously interconnected world. Last Oct. 1, 2024, Iran launched 180 massive cruise and ballistic missiles into Israel's territory from a range of 2,000 kilometers (Shenzhen, China, to Manila is a mere 1,200 km). Through joint anti-missile defense operations, the US and Israel intercepted all missiles with no causalities to Israel's population. The world is petrified that Israel might target Iran's nuclear facilities, which could fuel an expanded conflict in the region. PPSC is an active observer of these explosive global events, including China's aggressive incursions in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
During this transformation of PPSC, the country confronted extreme violence and terrorism from IS-inspired militants, who laid siege on the cities of Marawi and Zamboanga. Suicide bombers attacked military positions in Sulu, killing troops and civilians. The PPSC also braced through the Covid-19 pandemic, the war on illegal drugs, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and numerous natural disasters. As these major crises unfolded, the PPSC ensured that it kept abreast through new public safety curricula, education and instruction that reoriented students on the increasingly volatile environment.
On the one hand, there were also ebbs and valleys in PPSC's quest to upgrade public safety and security education among the tri-bureaus. In the previous administration, Republic Act 11279 carved out the PNP and the National Police Training Institute from the PPSC. Congress wanted PPSC to focus more on the National Fire Training Institute, the National Police College, the National Forensic Science Training Institute, the National Jail Management and Penology Training Institute, and other special training centers of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). With the PNPA under the PNP, a DILG policy circular created the Philippine Public Safety Academy (PPSA), whose graduates are commissioned as officers of the BJMP and BFP. Out of 1,084 applicants, only 100 successfully qualified as part of the first and pioneering batch of the PPSA Class 2024 under the PPSC.
The PPSC has been geared up to become a more responsive, innovative, future-ready and learner-centered education system. The rise of digital fraud and cybercrimes is alarming the country's law enforcement agencies. The PPSC is now recalibrating its curricula on cybersecurity protection and response. It embraced digital forensics and other cutting-edge technologies to equip students from the tri-bureaus. Further, it will invite faculty and applicants from abroad to enrich and diversify its campus pool. Finally, PPSC shall invest in publications, research and academic conferences and collaborate with global institutions.
The PPSC is, bar none, the greatest purveyor of knowledge in Philippine public safety, law enforcement, fire and jail management, and homeland security. It is one of the revered public education institutions that policymakers ought to treasure, support and insulate from unproductive politics. PPSC imbues 21st-century skills and public service ethos in the tri-bureaus and reinforces their capabilities to face all threats to the nation.
Rest assured that PPSC is perpetually committed to the protection of the Filipino people's security.