De Lima wants more women in the police force

MANILA, Philippines — Detained Sen. Leila de Lima on Monday has revived a bill mandating the Philippine National Police to raise its quota for hiring women in the 190,000-strong force.

“There is urgency to increase women’s representation in the police force, which hopefully will result in a more responsive and committed police force toward preventing violations and abuses of women’s rights,” De Lima said in refiling Senate Bill No. 1148.

Under the measure, the PNP will be required to “implement an incremental increase” in the recruitment of female trainees to raise the number of police officers from 10 to 50 percent within a five-year period. —MARLON RAMOS