House panel OKs bill lowering minimum height requirement for PNP, BFP, BuCor applicants

MANILA, Philippines – A committee in the House of Representatives approved Thursday a bill lowering the height requirement for applicants to the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

During its meeting, the House committee on public order and safety approved the substitute bill to several measures seeking to lower the height requirement for the said government offices to 1 meter and 57 centimeters (nearly 5 feet and 2 inches) for men, and 1 meter and 52 centimeters (nearly 5 feet) for women.

Sulu 1st District Rep. Samier Tan, who heads the sub-committee on police administration, said that the measure would “enable these agencies to employ the best and highly qualified applicants for positions requiring technical skills” who do not meet the current height requirement.

Aside from this, Tan said the substitute bill also lifts the waiver for the height requirement for applicants from cultural communities or indigenous people, saying it was “subject for abuse.”

Instead, Tan said the height requirement for IPs was set at 1 meter and 52 centimeters for men, and 1 meter and 47 centimeters for women.

However, during the meeting of the public order and safety committee, Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) acting director Police Brig. Gen. Rhoderic Armamento said that their institution currently only accepts alicants who are at least 1.62 meters in height for men and 1.52 meters in height for women.

“Our records would show that with the height requirements in place, there is still an overwhelming number of applicants,” Armamento said.

“Our stand is to retain yung standard height requirements na nakalagay before or sinusunod natin,” he added.

Thus, the committee moved that PNPA applicants be excluded from the lowering of the height requirement. This was approved by the members of the committee. [ac]