MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday said about 95 percent of its top-ranking officers have tendered their courtesy resignations.

At least 904 out of the 953 generals and colonels have heeded the Department of the Interior and Local Government's (DILG) call for courtesy resignations in a bid to cleanse the force of personnel involved in the illegal drug trade, said PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo.

Those who submitted their resignation included 774 colonels and 130 generals so far, Fajardo said in a media briefing.

The PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management expects to receive the resignation of the remaining 49 senior officers within the week, she said.

“Majority of these 49 ay manggagaling pa po kasi ng Visayas and Mindanao. So, we have to understand also na kailangan din po kasi na gumamit ng courier dahil hindi naman po puwede na i-email po iyan,” Fajardo said.

(Majority of these 49 came from the Visayas and Mindanao. So we have to understand that they had to use a courier because these can't be sent via email.)

Those who submit resignations could continue to work while a 5-man committee evaluates their records and conducts lifestyle checks. The panel will submit its assessment to the National Police Commission (Napolcom), before recommending the next move to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Ang gagawin natin, aside from that committee, kung may nakuha na names na tatanggapin ang resignation, ito ngayon ay dadaan pa sa Napolcom. Only those names at pwede pang bawasan ng Napolcom," said Interior Secretary Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos Jr.

"Kasi ako I'd rather have one man who's guilty than off the hook, than one innocent person be dismissed. Importante sakin ‘yun. Importanteng salang-salang-sala. So we added one more, Napolcom,” he added.

(Aside from that committee, the National Police Commission or Napolcom will decide which resignations we will accept. I'd rather have one man who's guilty to get off the hook than have one innocent person dismissed. That's important to me. It's important that we filter the names. So we added one more layer, the Napolcom.)

Abalos had called for police colonels and generals to offer their courtesy resignations until Jan. 31 after a probe found that a “handful” of officers were involved in the illegal drug trade.

• DILG 'salutes' PNP officials who filed courtesy resignation amid internal cleansing

PNP Chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. was the first to comply with the appeal, followed by several other officials from Metro Manila, Eastern Visayas, and Central Visayas.

• PNP Chief Azurin submits courtesy resignation amid call to cleanse force

They could continue working while their records were assessed by a 5-member committee. Those found guilty would have their resignations accepted.

Anyone who did not tender their resignation would be “questionable,” according to Abalos.

• Courtesy resignations will help restore trust in PNP: Magalong