MindanaoToday.com | Normin police open for LGBT in its ranks
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community may join the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP) if they wish to serve the country as law enforcers, a high-ranking police official said.
The invitation for LGBT members to join the PNP came barely two weeks after an incident of misunderstanding in Cebu City between a transgender and a restaurant server went viral after the latter addressed the former TV host as “sir.”
“LGBT (members) are welcome as long as they help us in law enforcement,” Brigadier General Ricardo Layug Jr. said when a journalist asked on the status of recruitment and selection of would-be police during a “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” forum on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 here. Layug heads the Police Regional Office for Northern Mindanao (PRO-10).
Although Layug did not make any reference to the latest alleged misgendering issue in Cebu City, he said gender sensitivity issues could easily be addressed by members of the LGBT community if they are in the police organization, in the same way that ideally Violence Against Women and Children (WAWC) desks in police offices should be headed by female police officers.
But the VAWC desk, he said, need not necessarily be headed by a woman because the PNP organization lacks female personnel and complaints do not always involve women, at times including child abuse and those involving members of the LGBT community.
GENDER SENSITIVE
He said that as long as the person has been trained in gender sensitivity—the modification of one’s behavior after having been made consciously aware of gender equality concerns—then one can handle the VAWC desk.
Complaints lodged at VAWC desks, as spelled out under Republic Act No. 9262, often involve human rights abuses be it physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, financial, among other forms, and discriminatory behaviors out of one’s gender insensitivity
Layug said they have submitted to the PNP National Headquarters proposed increase in the current 10-percent allocation for female recruits out of the annual regional quota.
Section 59 of Republic Act No. 8551, The PNP Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998, provides for the creation of VAWC desks and the adoption of a gender sensitivity program formulated by the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM).
The same includes but not limited to the establishment of equal opportunities for women in the PNP—though set only at 10-percent of the total annual recruits, the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace, and the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. The 10-percent allocation for female police personnel includes training and education opportunities.
OVER THE QUOTA
Layug said they have observed a growing interest among the young across genders—perhaps including other sexual orientations under the LGBT sector—in joining the ranks of the PNP as shown by the number of applications exceeding over annual quotas. There were 1,700 applicants for 300 quota last year—an excess of 467-percent, he said.
He said the relatively high satisfaction ratings that the police organization has been getting lately, comparatively high pay (P29,668 monthly for entrants), and assurance of life-long job security, professional advancement, and retirement benefits are among the come-ons for the young.
He said they tried to transfer the applicants to nearby regions but the increased trend of applicants has also been observed there.
Police Colonel Erwin Meneses, chief of the Regional Recruitment and Selection Unit of PRO-10 (RRSU-10) confirmed the influx of applicants to the police organization from the time their unit was created in 2019. The annual quota for Northern Mindanao has always been filled, he said.
Meneses said they require submission of Philippine Statistics Authority-issued personal and academic and eligibility documents either personally or online. Letters of recommendations are not necessary.
Applicants must be Filipino citizens, 21 to 30 years old, at least 5’2” (males) and 5’0” (females) tall, college degree holder, of good moral character, passed mental, drug, and physical tests, never been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, and was not dishonorably discharged from military or police service or dismissed from any civilian position in a government agency.
He said the recruitment process is free of charge, hence those posing to be recruitment officers and collecting money in exchange of any promise for assistance in application to be a police officer must be reported to the PRO RRSU-10.
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