Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
Nineteenth Congress  
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 7820 
Introduced by Representative Maria Jamina Katherine B. Agarao 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
For the Philippine National Police to fulfill its duties to the nation, it must be fully supported 
and capacitated with qualified personnel. At present Section 33 of Republic Act 6975 limits 
lateral entry for line officers from the Police Non-Commissioned Officer (PNCO) to 
graduates of BS Criminology. 
However, recently, the PNP has experienced a scarcity in qualified personnel to fill in 
vacancies due to fewer yearly graduates from the Philippine National Police Academy 
(PNPA) and fewer promotions of Police Executive Master Sergeant to Police Lieutenant. To 
improve the situation, this bill seeks to expand eligibility of PNCOs with Professional 
Regulation Commission (PRC) licenses or with second level Civil Service eligibility or its 
equivalent eligibility in other different courses. 
This bill aims to provide a wider pool of applicants, and therefore, help improve the human 
resource capacity and overall service of the PNP. 
MARIA JAMINA KATHERINE B. AGARAO 
March 30, 2023
1:04 pm


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AN ACT 
AMENDING SECTION 33 OF REPUBLIC ACT 6975, OR THE DEPARTMENT OF 
INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1990 TO INCLUDE OTHER 
BACCALAUREATE DEGREES TO THE LATERAL ENTRY PROGRAM FOR LINE 
OFFICERS 
Be enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SEC. 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Amended Provision of the Lateral Entry 
Program for Line Officers (sec. 33 of RA 6975) to the Rank of Police Lieutenant. 
SEC. 2. Statement of Policy and Objectives. – It is the policy of the State to 
establish a highly efficient, effective, and competent police force, which is national 
in scope, civilian in character, and administered and controlled by the Philippine 
National Police. The lateral entry for line officers is only accepting applicants from 
the PNCO who are criminologists by eligibility to fill up vacancies for the rank of 
Police lieutenants under the provision of Sec 33 of RA 6975. This hinders the 
appointment of other PNCOs who are not graduate of BS Criminology to Police 
Commissioned Officers for line units considering that the yearly graduates of 
Philippine National Police Academy and the promotion of Police Executive Master 
Sergeant to Police Lieutenant are insufficient to fill up the negative variance. The 
variance is foreseen to increase due to continuous hiring of PNCOs.  
Thus, PNCOs with PRC license or with second level civil service eligibility or its equivalent 
eligibility in the different courses should also be included in the Lateral Entry for Line 
Officers. 
SEC. 3. Section 33 of Republic Act No. 6975 is amended to read as follows. – 
Section 33. Lateral Entry of Officers into PNP. In general, all original appointments 
of commissioned officers in the PNP shall commence with the rank of Police 
Lieutenant, to include all those with highly technical qualifications applying for the 
PNP technical services, such as dentist, optometrists, nurses, engineers, and 
graduates of forensic sciences. Doctors of medicine, regular members of the Bar, 
and chaplains shall be appointed to the rank of Police Captain in their particular 
technical service. Graduates of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) shall 
be automatically appointed to the initial rank of Police Lieutenant. Licensed 
criminologists and other professionals who have licenses issued by the 
Professional Regulation Commission or who are Civil Service Professionals, or its 
equivalent eligibility maybe appointed to the rank of Police Lieutenant to fill up 
any vacancy after promotions from the ranks are completed. 
HOUSE BILL NO. 7820


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SEC. 4. Repealing Clause. – All other provisions of Republic Act 6975, as amended 
by Republic Act 8551, otherwise known as the “Philippine National Police Reform 
and Reorganization Act of 1998”, and all other laws, executive orders, rules and 
regulations, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act shall be deemed modified 
or repealed accordingly. 
SEC. 5. Separability of Clause. – If any provision of this Act or the application of 
such provision is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the provisions not affected 
thereby shall remain in full force and effect. 
SEC. 5. Effectivity. – This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days upon approval. 
Approved.