ZAMBOANGA City Police Office (ZCPO) personnel who are overweight have been ordered to trim down or else they will not be allowed to undergo schooling for promotion.
Police Captain Edwin Duco, ZCPO information officer, said the order is in line with the directive of Police Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge, to strictly implementation the Body Mass Index (BMI), wherein all policemen are required to maintain ideal weight.
The BMI refers to a person’s weight-to-height ratio, which is calculated by dividing one’s weight in kilograms by the square of one’s height in meters and used as an indicator of obesity and underweight.
Overweight policemen will not be allowed to undergo career advancement or training for promotion to ensure strict compliance. Duco revealed that there are at least 50 overweight policemen who are assigned with the ZCPO’s 11 police stations.
Duco added that policemen are obliged to maintain good health aside from performing their official tasks.
He said policemen are required to participate in athletic activities every Tuesday and Thursday to stay healthy, adding that policemen with bulging stomach are not healthy and may find chasing crime suspects difficult.
It can be recalled that all policemen were required to maintain a 34-inch waistline during the time of Senator Panfilo Lacson as PNP chief. (SunStar Zamboanga)