View source for Philippine Constabulary

{{short description|Defunct Philippine military-police force}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox law enforcement agency
| agencyname        = Philippine Constabulary
| nativename        = {{lang|tl|Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas}}
| logo              = [[File:Philippine Constabulary Seal (1901–1914).png|100px]] [[File:Insignia of the Philippine Constabulary.svg|100px|The official seal of the Philippine Constabulary from 1914 to 1975]] [[File:Philippine Constabulary Seal (1975–1991).svg|100px]]
| logocaption       = Insignia of the Philippine Constabulary. Left (1901–1914), Right (1914–1975) and Center 
(1975–1991)
| abbreviation      = PC
| motto             = Always outnumbered but never outfought!<br> Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa (One Nation, One Spirit)
| mottotranslated   = 
| formed            = {{Start date and age|1901|08|08}}
| dissolved         = {{End date and age|1991|01|29}}
| superseding       =  Spanish colonial [[Civil Guard (Philippines)|Guardia Civil]]
| employees         = 
| budget            = 
| country           = Philippines
| countryabbr       = Philippines
| national          = yes
| sizearea          = 
| sizepopulation    = 90,000 (1991)
| police            = yes
| local             = yes
| provost           = 
| gendarmerie       = yes
| speciality1       = paramilitary
<!-- (...up to 6...) -->
| chief1name        = 
| chief1position    = 
| parentagency      = 
| child1agency      = 
| child2agency      = 
| child3agency      = 
| child4agency      = 
| child5agency      = 
| child6agency      = 
| website           = 
| headquarters      =
* Camp Crame (1938–1991)
* Old Gagarin Barracks (1901–1938)
}}
[[File:Filipino Captain Rafael Crame.jpg|thumb|Former chief of the Philippine constabulary [[Rafael Crame]] from whom [[Camp Crame]] headquarters was named after.]]
The '''Philippine Constabulary''' ('''PC'''; {{langx|tl|Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas}}, ''HPP''; {{langx|es|Constabularía Filipina}}) was a [[gendarmerie]]-type military police force of the [[Philippines]] from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the [[Philippine National Police]]. It was created by the [[Insular Government|American occupational government]] to replace the Spanish colonial [[Civil Guard (Philippines)|Guardia Civil]],<ref>{{cite book |title=The Philippines past and present, Volumes 1–2 |last=Worcester |first=Dean Conant |author-link=Dean Conant Worcester |year=1921 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|The Macmillan Co.]] |pages=380–381 |access-date=August 17, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VmvUAAAAMAAJ&q=Guardia+Civil+Philippines&pg=PA380}}</ref> happened on the 19th century history of the Philippines. It was the first of the four branches of the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines]]. On January 29, 1991, it was merged with the [[Integrated National Police]] to form the [[Philippine National Police]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Philippine National Police (PNP) |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/philippines/pnp.htm |website=www.globalsecurity.org |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Major Cornelius C. Smith 1910.jpg|thumb|[[Cornelius C. Smith]] (far right), a recipient of the [[Medal of Honor]], as commander of the Philippine Constabulary with Brig. Gen. [[John J. Pershing]] and [[Moro people|Moro chieftains]] in 1910. Smith participated in expeditions against the [[Moro Rebellion|Moro rebels]] for much of his time in the Philippines.]]

==History==

[[File:Filipino Constabulary 1905.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Two Constables posing for a photo in the ''[[New York Tribune]]'' in 1905.]]
[[File:Review of reviews and world's work (1890) (14779332801).jpg|thumb|right|Philippine Constabulary in 1910]]

The Philippine Constabulary (PC) was established on August 18, 1901, under the general supervision of the [[Governor-General of the Philippines#Insular Government (1901–1935)|civil Governor-General of the Philippines]], by the authority of Act. No. 175 of the [[Second Philippine Commission]], to maintain peace, law, and order in the various provinces of the Philippine Islands.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hurley|first=Vic|title=Jungle Patrol, the Story of the Philippine Constabulary (1901–1936)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fAuBedlSboIC|year=2011|publisher=Cerberus Books|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fAuBedlSboIC&pg=PA60 60]|isbn=978-0-983-47562-0|quote=Section 1. An Insular Constabulary is hereby established under the general supervision of the Civil Governor for better maintaining peace, law, and order in the various provinces of the Philippine Islands, organized, officered and governed as hereinafter set forth, which shall be known as the Philippines Constabulary.}}</ref> By the end of 1901, a total of 180 officers had been commissioned.<ref name=emerson1996p295>{{Harvnb|Emerson|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=trbBXKeHO3sC&pg=PA295 295]}}.</ref>[[File:Theb3327.jpg|thumb|"The Philippine Constabulary guard with shore party of Hubert A. Paton. Off the [[USC&GSS Pathfinder (1899–1941)|''Pathfinder'']]", Philippines, 1926 from the Historic Coast & Geodetic Survey (C&GS) Collection, NOAA Photo Library.]]

The constabulary assisted the [[United States]] military in combating the remaining [[Philippine–American War#Irreconcilables|irreconcilable revolutionaries]] following the March 23 capture of General [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] and his April 1 pledge of allegiance to the United States. This phase of the [[Philippine–American War]] ended in Luzon by 1906, with the surrender and execution of one of its last remaining generals, [[Macario Sakay]].

Continued disorder and [[brigandry]] prompted Governor-General [[William Howard Taft]] to maintain the PC to combat insurgents. Captain Henry T. Allen of the [[6th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|6th U.S. Cavalry]], a Kentucky-born graduate of [[West Point]] (Class 1882), was named as the chief of the force, and was later dubbed as the "Father of the Philippine Constabulary".  With the help of four other army officers, Captains David Baker, W. Goldsborough, H. Atkinson, and J.S. Garwood, Captain Allen organized the force, trained, equipped and armed the men as best as could be done at the time. Although the bulk of the officers were recruited from among the U.S. commissioned and non-commissioned officers, two Filipinos qualified for appointment as 3rd Lieutenants during the first month of the PC: Jose Velasquez of [[Nueva Ecija]] and Felix Llorente of [[Manila]]. Llorente retired as a colonel in 1921 while Velasquez retired as major in 1927.

The [[Philippine Constabulary Band]] was formed on October 15, 1902, by Colonel [[Walter Loving]] upon the instructions of Governor-General Taft, who was known as a music lover. The 86-piece band toured the United States to great acclaim, leading the parade in [[Washington, D.C.]] to celebrate Taft's 1909 [[United States presidential inauguration|presidential inauguration]], and performing at the 1904 [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition]] and the 1915 [[World's Fair]]. Before the First World War, the PC Band would serve as a source of national pride.

===Philippine Military Academy===
{{main|Philippine Military Academy}}
A school for the constabulary was established on February 17, 1905, at the Santa Lucia barracks in [[Intramuros]].<ref name=beltran1996p43>{{harvnb|Beltran|1996|p=43}}</ref> In 1908, the school was transferred to [[Baguio]].<ref name=beltran1996p43 /> In 1915 the school was renamed ''Academy for Officers of the Philippine Constabulary''.<ref name=beltran1996p44>{{harvnb|Beltran|1996|p=44}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Report, 1915|1916|ref=report1915|p=[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/acx1716.1916.001/51 35]}}</ref> In 1928, the school was renamed the ''Philippine Constabulary Academy''.<ref name=beltran1996p44 /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lawyerly.ph/laws/view/l8b1f|title=AN ACT TO AMEND ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-SIX HUNDRED AND FIVE, ENTITLED "AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE CREATION IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS OF AN ACADEMY FOR OFFICERS FOR THE PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY."|date=December 9, 1928|website=lawyerly.ph}}<!-- masy have cited the wrong source -- needs a second look --></ref> When the [[Philippine Army]] was created in 1936, the institution became the [[Philippine Military Academy]]. The school is the main source of regular officers of the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines]] (AFP), which before 1991 included those of the Philippine Constabulary.

===Camp Crame===
{{Main article|Camp Crame}}
In 1935, a large tract of land was acquired in New Manila Heights, now part of [[Quezon City]].  It was given by the City of Manila government in exchange for the old Gagalangin barracks compound in [[Tondo, Manila|Tondo]]. Part of this tract became Camp Crame, named after Brigadier General [[Rafael Cramé]] of [[Rizal Province]] who became the first [[Filipino people|Filipino]] appointed Chief of the Constabulary on December 17, 1917. Other parts of the tract became Camp Murphy (now [[Camp Aguinaldo]]), and Zablan Field, site the Philippine Constabulary Air Corps (PCAC).

===Reorganized as a military organization===
Under the [[National Defense Act of 1935]], the PC became the backbone of the Philippine Army, later re-established after [[World War II]] and was known as both the Philippine Constabulary and as the [[Military Police]] Command in 1946.<ref name="PCH">{{Cite web|url=https://www.photius.com/countries/philippines/national_security/philippines_national_security_philippine_constabul~882.html|title=Philippines Philippine Constabulary - Flags, Maps, Economy, History, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, International Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System|website=www.photius.com}}</ref> It consisted of soldiers trained in [[military police]] duties with nationwide jurisdiction.

The move to abolish the national police force and to make it a nucleus of a Philippine Army got underway when the Army of the Philippines was created in 1936. Thus, the transfer of the PC to the regular force of the new military organization was effected under the provisions of Sec. 18 of the National Defense Act, and pursuant to Executive Order No. 11 of President [[Manuel L. Quezon]] dated January 11, 1936. The Constabulary was inactivated on this date and was known as the Constabulary Division, Philippine Army. The PC was not gone but got submerged in a bigger organization. Thereafter, the insular police duties, formally reposed in the PC, were discharged by a "State Police" created by Commonwealth Act No. 88 dated October 26, 1936.

After turning over the former Constabulary duties to a State Police, which proved to be short-lived and unsuccessful, the Constabulary was revived as a military police force on June 23, 1938, by Commonwealth Act No. 343. By operation of the CA 343, the State Police was abolished and its military police duties reverted to the PC. President Quezon himself recommended to the National Assembly that the State Police be abolished and in its place the PC was to be reconstituted into a separate organization, distinct and divorced from the [[Philippine Army]], which was for "national defense".

The PC once again existed as an independent force retaining all duties in maintaining peace and order and protection of life and property. One of the most significant provisions of the law re-creating it was that which provided that officers and enlisted men detached from the army and transferred to the PC shall retain their identity and legal rights and obligations as officers and enlisted men of the army; that the president may, at his discretion, transfer at any time any officer or enlisted man to and from the army to the Constabulary, respectively; and that all services performed in the Constabulary shall count for all legal purposes as military service. Thus, began the linear roster of officers for both the Constabulary and the Armed forces up until the PC was merged with the [[Integrated National Police]] in 1991.

===World War II===
[[File:PH constabulary pledge to US and UN.jpg|thumbnail|Members of the First Regiment swearing to the U.S. flag and to the [[Declaration by United Nations|cause of the United Nations]]. February or March 1942.]]
{{See also|Military history of the Philippines during World War II}}
In May 1941, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] proclaimed a [[state of emergency]] in the [[Contiguous United States|continental United States]] and all American overseas possessions including the Philippines. With the organization of the [[United States Army Forces in the Far East]] in July, the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the Constabulary prepared their combat units. The PC was inducted to the [[USAFFE]] and was formed into three infantry regiments for participation in national defense.

On October 15, the 1st PC Regiment was inducted into the [[USAFFE]] by Brig, Gen. George M. Parker in Camp Crame, after which it was moved to the Balara cantonment area in Quezon City, where the men were trained as a combat team on the regimental level.

The 2nd and 3rd Regiments were inducted into the [[USAFFE]] on November 17 and December 12, respectively. The 1st and the 2nd were assigned to safeguard public utilities vital to the survival of the growing population of the [[City of Greater Manila]].

War broke out on December 8, 1941. The two PC regiments less the 2nd Battalion of the 1st which was ordered to proceed to [[Bataan Peninsula|Bataan]] immediately, were assigned in Manila to arrest all aliens believed to be sympathetic with the enemy. In addition, these units were ordered to safeguard centers of communication and all public utilities in the city and of securing the metropolitan area against subversive elements. Soon, a protective cordon around Manila was formed by units of the two PC regiments.

By January 1942, most of the "constables" were in the Bataan peninsula with other Fil-American troops. "On [[Bataan]] and [[Corregidor]], in [[Aparri]], [[Lingayen, Pangasinan|Lingayen]] and [[Atimonan]], everywhere in the islands were the invaders dread to set foot, Constabulary troops distinguished themselves in action against overwhelming odds."

On December 29, the 4th PC Regiment was activated and constituted by PC units from the provinces of [[Bataan]], [[Bulacan province|Bulacan]], [[Nueva Ecija]], [[Pampanga]], [[Pangasinan]], [[Tarlac]], and [[Zambales]]. Two days later, the regiment was ordered to Bataan.

To prevent the unnecessary slaughter of his war-weary troops, Maj. General [[Edward P. King]] Jr., the commanding officer of the Southern Luzon Force, negotiated with the Japanese High Command the surrender of the Bataan-based Filipino American troops. Bataan fell on April 9, 1942, and thousands of Filipino-American servicemen who had defended it became prisoners of war. A large number of Constabulary men died in the [[Battle of Bataan|battle]] and in the infamous [[Bataan Death March]]. Many more died at the [[concentration camp]] in [[Capas, Tarlac]].

The Philippines was liberated late in 1944 and early in 1945. Thereafter, the problem of restoring peace and order from the general chaos and disorder arising from the war came up. The Constabulary went on active service with the Philippine Commonwealth Army under President [[Sergio Osmeña]]'s Executive Order 21, dated October 28, 1944. In the reorganization, that followed, the Military Police Command (MPC), [[USAFFE]], was created pursuant to [[USAFFE]] General Orders No. 50 Another Order, General Orders No. 51 dated July 7, 1945, redesignated the organization as MPC, AFWESPAC.

===Bureau of Constabulary===
After the fall of Manila, the Japanese established the Bureau of Constabulary as the Filipino national police force using former officers from the Philippine Constabulary. Jose de los Reyes was appointed director on February 5, 1943.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf4qAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA52 |title=Appointments |date=February 1942 |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=52 |magazine=Official Gazette |access-date=February 16, 2023}}</ref> He was succeeded by [[Guillermo B. Francisco]] on April 11, 1943 and [[Paulino Santos]] in August 1944.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-v4qAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA397 |title=Appointments and Designations |date=April 1943 |volume=2 |issue=4 |page=397 |magazine=Official Gazette |access-date=February 16, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oRktAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6 |chapter=C. Advisory Board on Public Security |title=Status of the Philippine Puppet Government as of October 14, 1944 |date=1944 |page=6 |publisher=U.S. Strategic Services Office |access-date=February 16, 2023}}</ref>

According to [[Robert Lapham]], an American officer who had headed to the jungles to fight instead of obeying General MacArthur's order to surrender and had become a guerrilla commander, constabulary chief Gen. Guillermo Francisco had been "de-Americanized" by the Japanese after the surrender of Bataan, after which, they "half trusted him to do their will".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lapham|first1=Robert |last2=Norling|first2=Bernard|title=Lapham's Raiders: Guerrillas in the Philippines, 1942–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUtnAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-1949-6|page=78}}</ref>  Francisco and his men pursued "bandits and cut-throats, which was good in itself and which allowed them to look good to their Japanese overlords, but it was known among many of his officers and some outsiders as well that he and most of his men were just waiting for an opportune time to change sides."{{sfn|Lapham|Norling|1996|pp=78–79}}

During the Japanese occupation, the enemy, through the use of force and threats, organized their version of the Philippine Constabulary which they called the Bureau of Constabulary; it was later renamed to match the pre-war Constabulary with the creation of the [[Second Philippine Republic|Second Republic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maranao.com/bangsamoro/0506-japan_invasion.htm |title=The Japanese Invasion |author=Salah Jubair |publisher=Maranao.Com |access-date=February 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727232925/http://www.maranao.com/bangsamoro/0506-japan_invasion.htm |archive-date=July 27, 2010 }}</ref>  {{cn span|It was armed with small arms only such as the [[M1917 Enfield]], the [[British Bull Dog revolver|.450 British Bulldog revolver]], and the [[Colt Police Positive]].|date=November 2025}} A handful of former PC officers and men were rounded up and forced to work with this outfit,<ref name="RCH">{{cite book |title=Behind Japanese Lines: An American Guerrilla in the Philippines |last=Hunt |first=Ray C. |author2=Bernard Norling |year=2000 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-0986-2 |page=107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mw-x-nUmUMYC&q=Philippine+Constabulary+Japanese&pg=PA107 |access-date=February 24, 2011}}</ref> with the threat that their loved ones would be harmed; majority of the men who escaped managed to find their way into the hills where they joined the resistance movement until liberation came in 1944.<ref name="RCH" />

It is a fact that much of the stigma that haunted the PC was the result of the establishment by the Japanese of their version of the Constabulary. Many had the wrong impression that the occupation Constabulary was the same force as that of the pre-war organization.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

===Post war era===
A major revamp in the Armed Forces was effected on March 30, 1950, when President [[Elpidio Quirino]] issued Executive Order No. 308 which called for the merger of the Philippine Constabulary with the Armed Forces, making it one more major service command. This was the second time the PC returned to a military force. Due to the unstable peace and order conditions existing in the countrysides brought about by the resurgence of the [[Hukbalahap]] (Huk) which require more personnel strength, the Philippine Army was called upon to assist in the pacification drive with the employment of its combat arms – the [[Battalion Combat Team]]s or BCTs, with PC men absorbed by the BCTs. It was under E.O. 308 and according to Administrative Order No. 113, dated April 1, 1950, the PC was formally merged with the Armed Forces of the Philippines; the merger was completed on July 27, the same year.<ref>[[#Ladwig|Ladwig (2014)]], pp. 29.</ref> 12,000 men from the MPC to the PC.<ref name="History">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pnp.gov.ph/about/content/history.html|title=history|date=June 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617203054/http://www.pnp.gov.ph/about/content/history.html|archive-date=June 17, 2008}}</ref>

Under the E.O., the power of executive supervision and all authority and duties exercised by the Secretary of Interior concerning the PC or its members were transferred to and exercised by the Secretary of National Defense. With the appointment, on American advice, of former [[USAFFE]] guerilla Rep. [[Ramon Magsaysay]] as Secretary of National Defense in September 1950 and the subsequent appropriation by Congress of more funds for the drive against the Communist movement in the Philippines, more BCTs were formed.<ref>[[#Ladwig|Ladwig (2014)]], pp. 30–32.</ref>

The delineation of the missions of the then four major services – Philippine Army, Philippine Constabulary, Philippine Navy, and Philippine Air Force – were underlined by EO No. 389 dated December 23, 1950, which abolished the Philippine Service Command and the Philippine Ground Force. Headquarters Armed Forces of the Philippines became known as "General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines"; while General Headquarters, Philippine Constabulary became known as "Headquarters, Philippine Constabulary", the nomenclature it had in the prewar years. Also, the major commands were abolished and in their places were activated the four major services. As defined in Executive Order (E.O.) No. 389, the main function of the PC was maintaining peace and order within the country and to be the country's national police force even though it was a branch then of the military.

In the reorganization that followed, the four military areas created under EO No. 94, series 1947, were not altered substantially but were nevertheless placed under the administrative and operational control of the AFP General Headquarters.

===Marcos martial law era===
President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] sought to have a strong personal influence over the Armed Forces, including the PC, as soon as he became president in 1965,<ref name="ParladeThesis">{{Cite book |last=Parlade |first=Antonio G. |title=An Analysis Of The Communist Insurgency In The Philippines. |publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-78625-282-1 |location=San Francisco |oclc=975223979}}</ref><ref name="ParladeVeraFiles">{{Cite news |title=The military's obsession with UP: some historical notes |language=en |work=[[Vera Files]] |url=https://verafiles.org/articles/militarys-obsession-some-historical-notes |access-date=2021-08-02}}</ref>
<ref name="Celoza1997">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sp3U1oCNKlgC&q=celoza+sagittarius+soliman&pg=PA32 |title=Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism |last=Celoza |first=Albert F. |date=1997 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780275941376 }}</ref>{{rp|page="32"}} holding on to the portfolio of defense secretary in the first thirteen months of his presidency<ref name="Kasaysayan9ch10">{{Cite book |title=Kasaysayan, The Story of the Filipino People Volume 9:A Nation Reborn |publisher=Asia Publishing Company Limited |year=1998 |editor-last=Magno |editor-first=Alexander R. |location=Hong Kong |chapter=Democracy at the Crossroads}}</ref> to develop what scholars have noted to be "a patronage system within the defense establishment."<ref name="Lee2015">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ob1TBgAAQBAJ&q=ilocanization+generals&pg=PA81 |title=Defect Or Defend: Military Responses to Popular Protests in Authoritarian Asia |last=Lee |first=Terence |date=January 2, 2015 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=9781421415161 }}</ref> The portfolio afforded him direct interaction with the AFP's leadership, and to have a hand in the AFP's day-to-day operationalization.<ref name="Berlin1982">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5z01nwEACAAJ |title=Prelude to Martial Law: An Examination of Pre-1972 Philippine Civil-military Relations |last=Berlin |first=Donald Lane |date=1982 }}</ref>

Upon the declaration of [[Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos|Martial Law]] in 1972, Marcos used the AFP as what the [[Davide Commission Report]] would later call his "martial law implementor,"<ref name="Davide Commission Report"/> and "one of the vital supports of the regime."<ref name="Davide Commission Report"/> Upon the announcement of Martial Law in 1972, one of their earliest tasks was that of quickly arresting and containing Marcos' political opponents.<ref name="OfficialGazetteDeclaration">{{cite web |url=http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph:80/featured/declaration-of-martial-law/ |title=Declaration of Martial Law |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708065018/http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/declaration-of-martial-law/ |archive-date=July 8, 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 9, 2018 }}</ref>  The AFP was given many other functions, including assisting in the implementation of price controls imposed on key products like corn and rice, enforcing the rules of the national corn procurement program, assisting in the collection of rural and government bank loans, implementing the agrarian reform law, and various police functions such as collecting unlicensed firearms and enforcing curfews, and suppressing strikes, rallies, and other demonstrations.<ref name="Davide Commission Report">{{cite web |date=1990-10-03 |title=II: Political Change and Military Transmition in the Philippines, 1966 – 1989: From the Barracks to the Corridors of Power |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1990/10/03/the-final-report-of-the-fact-finding-commission-ii-political-change-and-military-transmition-in-the-philippines-1966-1989-from-the-barracks-to-the-corridors-of-power/ |access-date=2021-07-30 |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines}}</ref>

In 1975, the PC officially integrated the nation's municipal and city police, fire and penitentiary services, which from 1974 onward formed the Integrated National Police, into the service, thus the PC became the ''Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police'' (PC-INP), as per the provisions of Presidential Decree 765, enacted on August 8 the same year, that formally fused the two services into one joint service, with joint command resting with the Chief of the PC.

Civilian<ref name="McCoy199909202">{{cite web|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/54a/062.html|title=Alfred McCoy, Dark Legacy: Human rights under the Marcos regime|date=September 20, 1999|publisher=[[Ateneo de Manila University]]}}</ref><ref name="Abinales&Amoroso20052">{{Cite book|title=State and society in the Philippines|last=N.|first=Abinales, P.|date=2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0742510234|location=Lanham, MD|oclc=57452454}}</ref> and military<ref name="ParladeThesis"/> historians alike agree that "[[Human rights abuses during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos|human rights abuses]] by the troops became rampant"<ref name="ParladeThesis"/><ref name="ParladeVeraFiles"/> during the Marcos administration,<ref name="ParladeThesis"/> as documented by international monitoring entities such as [[Amnesty International]].<ref name="RachelAGReyes201604122">{{cite web|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/3257-fact-checking-the-marcos-killings-1975-1985/255735/|title=3,257: Fact checking the Marcos killings, 1975-1985 - The Manila Times Online|website=www.manilatimes.net|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-15|date=2016-04-12}}</ref> Units often specifically cited in these reported incidents include the [[Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command|Metrocom]] [[Metrocom Intelligence and Security Group|Intelligence and Security Group (MISG)]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/146867-look-back-philippine-constabulary-marcos|title=LOOK BACK: The Philippine Constabulary under Marcos|work=Rappler|access-date=2018-06-18|language=en}}</ref> and the 5th Constabulary Security Unit (5CSU)<ref name="McCoyPolicing">{{Cite book|title=Policing America's empire : the United States, the Philippines, and the rise of the surveillance state|last=W.|first=McCoy, Alfred|date=2009|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=9780299234133|location=Madison, Wis.|oclc=550642875}}</ref> which were under the Philippine Constabulary,<ref name="AI1975">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa35/019/1977/en/|title=REPORT OF AN AI MISSION TO THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 1975}}</ref> as well as the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP),<ref name="MMLNA">{{Cite book|title=Marcos Martial Law: Never Again|last=Robles|first=Raissa|publisher=FILIPINOS FOR A BETTER PHILIPPINES , INC|year=2016}}</ref> the Presidential Security Unit, and the [[National Intelligence and Security Agency (Somalia)|National Intelligence and Security Agency]] (NISA) were also accused of aiding these activities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/25/world/a-filipino-on-the-spot.html|title=A FILIPINO ON THE SPOT|access-date=2018-06-18|language=en}}</ref> Aside from human rights abuses, these units were also accused of hounding media entities,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rosenberg|first=David A.|date=1974|title=Civil Liberties and the Mass Media under Martial Law in the Philippines|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=47|issue=4|pages=472–484|doi=10.2307/2755948|jstor=2755948}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1982/12/08/085203.html|title=MANILA NEWSPAPER CLOSED BY MARCOS|access-date=2018-06-18|language=en}}</ref> corporate management,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.newsbreak-knowledge.ph/2006/07/02/the-one-that-got-away/|title=The One That Got Away {{!}} Newsbreak {{!}} Independent Journalism|website=archives.newsbreak-knowledge.ph|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-18}}</ref> and opposition groups<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://library.law.hawaii.edu/2017/09/07/the-haunting-of-martial-law-records-from-the-marcos-regime/|title=The Haunting of Martial Law: Records from the Marcos Regime|date=2017-09-07|work=UH School of Law Library|access-date=2018-06-18|language=en-US}}</ref> with threats, intimidation, and violence.

Marcos' hold on power was effectively broken once enough of the Military withdrew their support from him in February 1986.<ref name="ABSCBNRamosEnrile">{{Cite news|date=2016-02-22|title=30 years ago today: Enrile, Ramos withdraw support for Marcos|language=en|url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/video/focus/02/22/16/30-years-ago-today-enrile-ramos-withdraw-support-for-marcos|access-date=2021-08-02}}</ref>

===Post-Marcos era and dissolution===
{{main|Security sector governance and reform in the Philippines|Philippine National Police}}
The need to assert [[civilian control of the military]] was a reform agenda which began being addressed almost as soon as [[Ferdinand Marcos]] was deposed by the 1986 [[People Power Revolution]]; within a year of Marcos' ouster, the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines enshrined the principle of civilian supremacy over the military.<ref name="MEI">{{cite web |title=Security Sector Reform in the Philippines |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/security-sector-reform-philippines |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106065411/http://www.mei.edu/publications/security-sector-reform-philippines |archive-date=2018-11-06 |access-date=2021-09-05 |website=Middle East Institute |language=en}}</ref>
After the various [[Coup attempts against Corazon Aquino|coup attempts of the 1980s]], the recommendations of the [[Davide Commission]] included the dissolution of the Philippine Constabulary as a service under the AFP.<ref name=about>[http://www.pnp.gov.ph/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46:about-the-philippine-national-police&catid=25:organization&Itemid=56 About the Philippine National police] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326192226/http://www.pnp.gov.ph/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46:about-the-philippine-national-police&catid=25:organization&Itemid=56 |date=March 26, 2012 }}</ref>  It was abolished in the early 1990s in a merger with the Integrated National Police.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Why Duterte wants to revive Philippine Constabulary |work=[[ABS-CBN News]] |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/02/06/17/why-duterte-wants-to-revive-philippine-constabulary}}</ref>

In 1991, it was determined that a new civilian [[Philippine National Police]] was to be formed by merging the [[Integrated National Police]] into the Philippine Constabulary, with the PC forming the basis as it had the more developed infrastructure. The PC was then removed from the [[Department of National Defense (Philippines)|Ministry of National Defense]] and eventually civilianized, as part of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, through attrition and recruitment of new personnel.

In 2017, President [[Rodrigo Duterte]] contemplated reviving the Constabulary to augment the manpower of the [[Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/02/06/17/why-duterte-wants-to-revive-philippine-constabulary|title=Why Duterte wants to revive Philippine Constabulary|first=Arianne|last=Merez|website=ABS-CBN News|date=February 6, 2017}}</ref> with presidential spokesperson [[Ernesto Abella]] announcing the planned revival.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.philstar.com/happens/191|title=Planned revival of Philippine Constabulary|date=January 31, 2017|newspaper=The Philippine Star}}</ref>{{update inline|date=July 2023}} This was never carried out after Duterte's term ended.

==Missions and duties==
The PC's missions were as follows:
* 1. To preserve peace and order and enforce the law throughout the country and also to arrest law violators and those who will violate such laws;
* 2. Inspectional supervision over, and undertake the training of, municipal and city level police forces, fire departments, and jail services;
* 3. To assist civil government and semi-government agencies in the accomplishment of their missions;
* 4. To perform home defense in rear areas and such other services as the chief of staff, AFP may direct.

The PC covered a very extensive range of diversified missions that through the years did not fall under its primary responsibilities. By express provision of law, the PC enforced the motor vehicle law, fishing and games law, the alien law for registration and fingerprinting, and anti-dummy law, and the nationalization of retail trade law. By direction of the president, it enforced the tenancy law, the law on scrap metal, iron and gold, a ban on slaughter of water buffalo or carabao, and other laws. By deputation, it enforced the immigration law, customs law, forestry law, quarantine law, election law, public service law, and amusement law and weight and standards on rice. As a civic function, it performed in conjunction with the [[Department of Social Welfare and Development]] (DSWD) and the Red Cross disaster relief operations during natural calamities and the like, alongside other organizations in later years. The security of VIPs was a routine requirement for the constabulary.

==Organization==
{{see also|Chief of Philippine Constabulary}}

The chief of the Philippine Constabulary was, from 1975 onward, also the director-general of the [[Integrated National Police]] (the [[municipal police]], fire, and jail force for the larger towns and cities).

The PC was organized on similar lines to the army, and consisted of a General Staff located at its General Headquarters at [[Camp Crame]], [[Manila]], and 12 Regional Commands (under a regional director) consisting of 104 Provincial Commands (under a Provincial Commander); these controlled the 450 PC Companies which performed all the day-to-day military police work.

The Regions were based on the country's political regions and directly controlled the various [[Highway Patrol]], Rangers, and investigative groups.

The PC  Regions would be later grouped into 4 PC Field Units or Command Zones (PCZs), each of which was headed by a Zone Commander (provinces are as of 1990):
* IPCZ – Abra, Aurora, Bataan, Batanes, Benguet, Bulacan, Cagayan, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Kalinga-Apayao, La Union, Mt. Province, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac and Zambales
* IIPCZ – Albay, Batangas, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Cavite, Laguna, Marinduque, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Palawan, Quezon, Rizal and Sorsogon
* IIIPCZ – Aklan, Antique, Bohol, Capiz, Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte and Southern Leyte, Masbate, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Romblon, Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar and Siquijor
* IVPCZ – Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Basilan, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Cotabato, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Sulu, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur

=== Ranks ===
{{Main|Military ranks of the Philippines}}
Ranks of the PC followed those first of the [[United States Army]] and later on those used by the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines]].

Originally the PC used the ranks and insignia of the United States Army upon its foundation and in its latter years it was more modelled on [[Philippine Army]] but with branch-specific shoulder board and sleeve insignia.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

==== Officers ====
{| class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"
!Philippine Constabulary Rank (1950–1991)
|-
|General¹
|-
|Lieutenant General²
|-
|Major General
|-
|Brigadier General
|-
|Colonel
|-Jacinto Pablo Alejandro 
|Lieutenant Colonel
|-
|Major
|-
|Captain
|-
|First Lieutenant
|-
|Second Lieutenant
|-
|}
¹ – Can be attained if a PC officer was appointed as Chief of Staff, AFP

² – Can be attained if a PC officer was appointed as Vice Chief of Staff, AFP

==== Enlisted constables and NCOs ====
*Master Sergeant
*Technical Sergeant
*Staff Sergeant
*Sergeant 
*Constable 1st Class 
*Constable 2nd Class 
*Constable

===Headquarters organization===
Headquarters Directorates:
* 1. Directorate for Personnel
* 2. Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development
* 3. Directorate for Logistics,
* 4. Directorate for Research and Development
* 5. Directorate for [[Comptroller]]ship,
* 6. Directorate for Plans,
* 7. Directorate for Police-Community Relations,
* 8. Directorate for Investigation and
* 9. Directorate for Special Staff

The Philippine Constabulary Rangers, or PC Rangers, were independent light infantry companies which served as a [[counter-insurgency]] force similar to [[United States Army Rangers]] and were organized into 12 large regional companies.<ref name="History"/>

Constabulary Headquarters directly controlled many other services needed at a national level such as the [[Special Action Force]], Central Crime Laboratory, White Collar Crime Group, and Office of Special Investigations (which was a counter-intelligence group).<ref name="PCH"/><ref name="History"/>

The Constabulary also maintained the following units:

* PC/INP Air Unit
* Constabulary Boat Service<ref name="History"/>
* Crime and Forensic Labs<ref name="History"/>
* [[Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command|PC Metropolitan Command (METROCOM)]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncrpo.pnp.gov.ph/ncrpo-history/|title=NCRPO History – PNP – National Capital Region Police Office|website=www.ncrpo.pnp.gov.ph}}</ref>
* [[Criminal Investigation and Detection Group|National Constabulary Investigations Service]] which acted in a similar way to the [[FBI]] before the NBI was reformed.<ref name="History"/>

== References ==
{{Country study}}
;Citations
{{reflist|2}}

;Bibliography
* 53rd PC Anniversary Yearbook, 1954 Edition
* {{cite book
|last=Emerson
|first=William K.
|title=Encyclopedia of United States Army insignia and uniforms
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trbBXKeHO3sC
|year=1996
|publisher=Press
|isbn=978-0-8061-2622-7
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trbBXKeHO3sC&pg=PA295
|chapter=27. Philippine Constabulary
}}
* Philippine Constabulary Yearbook August 1960
* The Constable, 70th PC Anniversary, August 8, 1971 Edition
* {{cite book |author= Ladwig III, Walter C.|title=When the Police are the Problem: The Philippine Constabulary and the Huk Rebellion|series=in C. Christine Fair and Sumit Ganguly, (eds.) ''Policing Insurgencies: Cops as Counterinsurgents'' |location=[[Oxford]], UK|publisher= Oxford University Press|year=2014 |url=http://www.walterladwig.com/Articles/Huk_Chapter.pdf |ref=Ladwig}}
* {{cite book|editor=United States W#ar Office|title=Report of the Philippine Commission to the Secretary of War, 1915|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/acx1716.1916.001/7?page=root;size=100;view=image|year=1916|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|ref=report1915}}
* {{cite thesis|last=Beltran|first=Orlando B.|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA312826.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031122552/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA312826.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=October 31, 2021|title=THE MANAGEMENT OF THE CORPS OF PROFESSORS OF THE PHILIPPINE MILITARY ACADEMY|date=June 1996|publisher=U.S. Naval Postgraduate School}} (via [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/acx1716.1916.001/2?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image Library of the University of Michigan])

==External links==
{{commons category|Philippine Constabulary}}
*[https://scua.uoregon.edu/agents/corporate_entities/3153?&page=1 Archival collections related to the Philippine Constabulary at University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives]

{{Department of National Defense of the Philippines}}
{{Philippine Revolution}}
[[Category:1901 establishments in the Philippines]]
[[Category:1991 disestablishments in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Armed Forces of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Defunct military provosts]]
[[Category:Military history of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Defunct law enforcement agencies of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Defunct gendarmeries]]