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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Woman, 24, opts for police job over call center, teaching
By Mia E. Abellana
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Maria Febsterr Bulan could have lived the good life.
At 24, she was earning P17,000 a month in a call center in Manila and need not have bothered about the public welfare.
She could have become a teacher, as she just passed the board exams last year, but she did not.
She was willing to give it all up to start her career as a police officer.
With a shaved head and clad in a plain white T-shirt and jeans, Bulan joined 149 other recruits who marched at the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 yesterday afternoon to take their oaths of office.
During the oath-taking ceremony, PRO 7 Director Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio Jr. congratulated the 25 women and 125 men who made the final cut for the year’s first phase attrition quota.
They bested more than 400 applicants who went through physical agility tests, neuro-psychiatric exams, complete physical and dental tests, blood tests and oral interviews.
Senior Supt. Ronald Roderos, deputy regional director for operations and chairman of the regional screening committee, said that apart from the qualifications in Republic Act 8551, one more trait “not expressed but implied” was that of having the right attitude.
“Policing is not employment. It is a way of life,” Roderos said.
Alarcio, who administered the oath of office, also told the new trainees to be ready to serve and protect the community.
“Having passed the requirements, I know you have the capability to bring honor to the organization. Otherwise, if you bring shame to the PNP, you will be stopped at the first instance,” Alarcio said.
He added that the public has lost confidence in the police organization because of a few in their ranks who had “wicked ways” and asked them not to follow these officers.
Alarcio quoted Sun.Star Cebu columnist Godofredo Roperos in reminding them of their duty to serve the public.
“It is not so much the solution and prevention of criminality that improves the PNP image, but how the individual police officer behaves,” Alarcio read aloud.
That quote was posted in 142 police offices and stations in Central Visayas during the time of then PRO 7 director Avelino Razon Jr. as a challenge to the police officers.
Alarcio said that since they were the youngest members of the PNP, they were considered the hope of the force.
The ceremony ended with a light moment, as recruits decided to sing the song “Senior Citizen” by Aggressive Audio, to entertain the guests and members of their family.
The recruits will undergo the Public Safety Basic Recruit Course at the Regional Training School for six months.
They will remain in the training school, away from their families.
The RTS commander, Supt. Eldorado Gallego, assured parents and loved ones present that the recruits will be “in good hands,” saying yesterday was the last time they were going to see the recruits with shaved heads.
“Next time, they will be stronger, brighter, prettier and more handsome,” he said.
Asked if she was ever discouraged to join the PNP, which has been riddled with controversy over the years, Bulan said, “Never.”
She had always wanted to become a police officer, just like her father, that the tears her mother shed for her did not stop her from taking oath.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 14, 2006 issue)
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