699 Zambo police personnel found 'obese'

Manila, Jan. 17 -- Some 699 personnel of the Police Regional Office 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) are running the risk of being axed from service should they fail to comply with the intervention program intended for obese policemen, an official said Friday. Brig. Gen. Froilan Quidilla, PRO-9 director, said he has recalled the obese policemen from their mother units to report to the regional headquarters beginning Thursday for a body mass index (BMI) evaluation. Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge, earlier ordered all policemen to undergo BMI evaluation as part of the PNP internal cleansing program. Under the PNP revised BMI, policemen who are severely underweight are recommended to have a weight gain of 1 kg. to 3 kg. a month until they reach their ideal weight while obese policemen are recommended to have a weight loss of 2 kg. per month. During the BMI evaluation at Camp Abendan on Thursday, Quidilla said 42 personnel of the regional headquarters were found obese; five from the Isabela City Police Station; 178 from the Zamboanga del Norte Police Provincial Office; 182 from the Zamboanga del Sur Police Provincial Office; 181 from the Zamboanga City Police Office; 86 from the Zamboanga Sibugay Police Provincial Office; and 25 from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 9. Quidilla said the obese police officers consist of 9.23 percent of the 7,574 personnel under PRO-9. "Everyone must be fit in performing law enforcement jobs," he said, adding that PRO-9 will be strictly monitoring the progress of the intervention program for obese police officers. He warned that those who fail to pass the BMI standards may face dismissal as part of the internal cleansing program of the PNP.