Lose weight or face sanctions, PNP warns cops

Police officers who fail to comply with the required body mass index (BMI) would face sanctions, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday. (PNA Photo)

MANILA – Police officers who fail to comply with the required body mass index (BMI) would face sanctions, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday.

Their BMI would be monitored every month, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana said.

“Kung sino man po ang hindi nakaka-comply sa ganitong panuntunan, meron pong epekto ito sa kanilang schooling, promotion, and even placement sa iba’t ibang mga units, assignments (Those who fail to comply with the policy would see the effects on their schooling, promotion, and even placement in different units or assignments},” Usana said in a Laging Handa briefing.

He noted that there is a standing policy on the physical fitness of police officers, saying they should be fit to fulfill their duties.

“We do not want our police officers to be affected or afflicted with diseases as a result of non-compliance with exercise requirements,” Usana said.

PNP Chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, recently announced the resumption of BMI monitoring among police personnel as a preventive measure against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Sinas said they are imposing a four-minute exercise for all PNP personnel in the morning and again in the afternoon.

“It (monitoring of BMI) was suspended before I became the Chief PNP because of Covid-19. Now, I talked with the new DHRDD (Directorate for Human Resource Doctrine Development) chief because obesity causes diabetes, heart disease, which are comorbidities for Covid-19,” he said.

The BMI depends on a person’s height. A high BMI can indicate high body fatness, which may lead to health problems, although studies show it is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual.

For most adults, an ideal BMI ranges from 18.

5 to 24.9. A range of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight while those having 30 and above are considered obese.