Police ranks of the Philippines

The following are the ranks of officials and officers of the Philippine National Police. These men and women report to the president of the Philippines as the commander-in-chief, through the secretary of the interior and local government, who is ex officio the chair of the National Police Commission, and the undersecretary for public safety under the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Current ranking classification (2019–present)

As of February 2019, a new ranking classification for the Philippine National Police was adopted, eliminating the confusion of old ranks. The enabling law for the ranking is Republic Act 11200 which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, amending Section 28 of the Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 that refers to the ranking classification of the Philippine National Police.
However, the usage of this classification internally by the PNP was put on hold in March 2019 during the creation of rules and regulations of the rank classification, which determined how each rank would be officially abbreviated. The new rank abbreviations and the IRR of the new rank system officially took effect on March 25, 2019. These new ranks are equivalent to those of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Full set of ranks

The National Police has no rank holders of Second Lieutenant, Technical Sergeant, Sergeant and Patrolman First Class.

Historical classifications

1991–2019 PNP classification

The Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 or Republic Act No. 6975 established the Philippine National Police under the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and later orders of the department formed the basis for the creation of a common rank system for the public security forces of the republic, which the National Police used for over two decades.

Insignia	Rank	Equivalent rank
	Police Director General	Police General
	Police Deputy Director General	Police Lieutenant General
	Police Director	Police Major General
	Police Chief Superintendent	Police Brigadier General
	Police Senior Superintendent	Police Colonel
	Police Superintendent	Police Lieutenant Colonel
	Police Chief Inspector	Police Major
	Police Senior Inspector	Police Captain
	Police Inspector	Police Lieutenant
	Senior Police Officer IV	Police Executive Master Sergeant
	Senior Police Officer III	Police Chief Master Sergeant
	Senior Police Officer II	Police Senior Master Sergeant
	Senior Police Officer I	Police Master Sergeant
	Police Officer III	Police Staff Sergeant
	Police Officer II	Police Corporal
	Police Officer I	Patrolman / Patrolwoman

Ranks of the Philippine Constabulary

Philippine Constabulary, which lasted between 1901 and 1991, was a gendarmerie police force which initially had its ranks and insignia er modelled after the United States Army upon its foundation before switching to Philippine Army styling with branch-specific shoulder board and sleeve insignia.

Officers

Philippine Constabulary Rank

General¹

Lieutenant General²

Major General

Brigadier General

Colonel

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

Integrated National Police

The defunct Integrated National Police adopted a paramilitary-styled ranking classification based on Presidential Decree No. 1184 issued by then-President Ferdinand Marcos as part of the joint command it shared with the PC, which began in 1975.

Rank

Police Brigadier General

Police Colonel

Police Lieutenant Colonel

Police Major

Police Captain

Police Lieutenant

Police Sergeant

Police Corporal

Patrolman First Class / Patrolwoman First Class

Patrolman / Patrolwoman

Informal ranks

Prior to the adoption of the 2019 classification, the police informally used military ranks to address to each other; such as tiniente or lieutenant for officers who had recently graduated from the Philippine National Police Academy, while chief superintendents up to the director general were colloquially referred to as "generals".

Pre-INP local police ranks

Prior to the reorganization of ranks in the police force in the Marcos era, local police forces uses American style police department ranks like Lieutenant, Captain, and Major. The police chief and deputy chief uses the American insignia used by colonels and lieutenant colonels respectively.