[5] The agency is administered and controlled by the National Police Commission and is part of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The PNP was formed on January 29, 1991, when the Philippine Constabulary and the Integrated National Police were merged pursuant to Republic Act 6975 of 1990.

The PC was then removed from the 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.

[23] R.A. 8551 envisioned the PNP to be a community- and service-oriented agency and included the creation of the Internal Affairs Service of Philippine National Police.

Commissioned officers for the Philippine National Police are from the Philippine National Police Academy as well as through "lateral entry" for specialized disciplines and requirements such as criminologists in line-officers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, chaplain and other technical positions and also the rose-from-the-rank personnel who have reached the qualifications to be a commissioned officer.

[48] The creation of the PNP itself, merging and replacing the PC and the INP, was an early and major step towards civilianization of the Philippine security sector.

[49] The Euro Generals scandal involves Eliseo de la Paz and several Philippine National Police officials who went to Russia in October 2008 to attend an Interpol conference.

A House panel investigating the scandal concluded that the six police officials who attended the conference had made the trip without authorization.

[51] In 2010, the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges against twelve former and active ranking PNP officials for their alleged involvement in the incident.

[52][53] On December 5, 2008, ten suspected criminals, one policeman, and five civilians, a total of 16 people, including a seven-year-old girl, were killed in a shootout in Parañaque.

Several others were wounded, including a ranking officer of the Highway Patrol Group, two members of the Special Action Force, a village watchman, and a security guard, said Director Leopoldo Bataoil, head of the Metro Manila regional police.

[58] Inspector Joselito Binayug, chief of the Asuncion police community precinct in Tondo arrested Darius Evangelista on March 5, 2009, for alleged robbery.

A torture video was leaked to the media and shown on television showing a police officer whipping and cursing the suspect and pulling on a rope that was tied to the victim's genitals.

[62] On November 26, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno announced that Maguid, Dikay, and others were suspected of involvement in the massacre.

[66] The Philippine National Police conceded that in the 2010 Manila hostage crisis they made blunders in ending a bus hijacking, as outrage grew over the bloody assault played out on live television that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead.

The Hong Kong Economic Journal was reported to have accused the PNP of having "appalling professional standards" and "...[a] lack of strategic planning".

[67] The Philippine Commission on Human Rights filed charges against ten police officers after it was discovered that they routinely tortured detainees inside a secret detention facility in Biñan, Laguna.

[70][71] The Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) charged former NBI officials Roel Boliv, Ricardo Diaz, and Jose Yap in relation to the case.

However, an alleged recycling of Methamphetamine Hydrocloride locally known as "Shabu" worth 648 million Philippine Pesos confiscated dubbed as "Agaw-Bato" by the media and setting drug lord Johnson Lee free were discovered by then Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Chief (now Baguio Mayor) Benjamin Magalong resulting to a dismissal of the 13 Policemen dubbed as "Ninja Cops" (including Baloyo) involved in the said operation.

[76][77] Kontraste, a news magazine of Germany's public broadcasting network ARD reported that Uniter members held a training seminar at the Seda Hotel with high-ranking officers of the PNP, and other government officials, including E.R.

The national police has filed charges against Sinas over the event for violation of existing regulations on social distancing and mass gatherings.

[82][83] Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca shot to death his two unarmed neighbors, Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank, in Paniqui, Tarlac, on December 20, 2020, at 5:10 pm (PST).

Several netizens and celebrities condemned the killings on social media with the hashtags #StopTheKillingsPH, #EndPoliceBrutality, #PulisAngTerorista, and #JusticeForSonyaGregorio dominating on Twitter in the Philippines, as well as in Singapore and Dubai.