Senator Revilla wants to increase the recruitment quota of female PNP Officers
Senator Revilla wants to increase the recruitment quota of female PNP Officers
In
2018, PNP Chief Police General Oscar D Albayalde said that there are 2,800
policewomen among the 180,000+ strong PNP, higher by 3,800 compared to 19,000,
which comprises 10 percent of the current total number of police officers in
compliance with Republic Act 8551, otherwise known as the PNP Reform and
Reorganization Act.
This
year in the 18th Congress, Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr introduced Senate
Bill No. 675 or An Act Increasing the Recruitment Quota
Requirement of Female PNP Officers, Amending Section 58 of Republic Act 8551,
Appropriating Funds Therefor and for other purposes.
The
senator discussed in his bill that an increase in female representation in our
country’s police forces may help to improve our police force’s strategies in
preventing violations and abuses of women’s rights. With sexual assault or
child protection cases, for example, the victim may want to talk to a female
officer. The challenge, however, is there is currently a lack of female
officers in the Philippine National Police (PNP).
According
to PNP Spokesperson Brigadier General Bernard Banac, 83.4 percent of the 180,767 PNP uniformed personnel are
male, and the remaining 16.6 percent, female. With this data, the PNP is
clearly dominated by men.
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RECRUITMENT PROCESS 2019
This
bill seeks to address the current loopholes in the country’s criminal justice
system in regards gender roles and functions. It further amends Section 58 of
RA 8551 or the Philippine National Police Reform and
Reorganization Act of 1998 to increase the annual recruitment quota for women
in the PNP to guarantee the adequacy of policewomen who shall man the woman and
children protections desks in police precincts.
This bill seeks to reserve 15 percent of PNP’s annual recruitment, training, and education quota for women, and that the recruitment quota for women shall be increased to 20 percent thereafter. It is hoped that through this bill, women will be given greater opportunity to join the police force and that the number of female officers may be pushed up over time.
Source:
http://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/3104327939