PNP to hold ‘Copwalk 2’ to find ‘dignified’ uniform

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police said Wednesday it is set to hold “Copwalk 2 . . . PNP on the Ramp” on November 14, a follow-up event of its fabric and designs competition in line with its plan to redesign cops’ uniform to make it.

The announcement was made during the opening of the static display of prototypes for PNP’s General Office Attire (GOA) and patrol uniforms in Camp Crame.

The static display will serve as an exhibit of all 83 prototypes from designers which aim to get individual preferences of PNP end-users and stakeholders on the suggested uniforms through on-site survey and evaluation. Pictures of the prototypes will also be sent to all police regional Offices to cast votes for better selection probability.

The points that will be earned during the survey and evaluation will be combined with the points gathered during the live prototype COPWALK 2 show, through a board of judges and from the results of feedback/evaluation/choices from short messaging service (SMS), facebook (www.facebook.com/pnp.pio) and other social networking sites to be added to the overall score, Police Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP-Public Information Office chief said.

During the presentation, PNP said that while negative and positive reactions were gathered during the conduct of a Consultation and Acceptability survey, “majority” of the respondents preferred for a change in the type of fabric and design used for GOA uniforms so as “to make it more suitable and functional.”

“Alam naman po natin na nagkakaroon ng changes sa ating climate so there is a need really for changes in the textile . . . [and] design of our uniforms so that it will be more responsive to the needs of our policemen,” Deputy Director General Ager Ontog, PNP deputy chief for Operations said, noting that PNP has been using the current design of uniform for 17 years already.

He said the National Police Commission stated that uniforms should be evaluated every 10 years.

Last July, a similar event was held, and one type of fabric – a mix of cotton and polyesyer – was approved. With this, PNP’s Directorate for Research and Development was ordered to plan and stage another Copwalk fashion show.

Copwalk 2, with the theme “Dignified Uniform: Adoptable and Flexible to the Demands of Times,” is another live prototype presentation of police uniforms, expanding the categories to other sets of uniform suitable for the various functions of the PNP, particularly for the GOA and patrol uniform.

It will showcase a more liberal display of color shade and fabric combination to offer a wider range of selection in design, fabric and color for the PNP organization, Sindac said.

Earlier, Copwalk 2 Technical Working Group and PNP logistics officers conducted pre-selection phases to choose from the fabrics submitted by 15 participating manufacturers in the competition. From the total of 693 fabrics submitted, 41 were initially chosen and then reduced to 27 fabrics.

The third phase later ended with eight chosen fabrics for patrol uniform, seven for the GOA shirt and five for the pants of GOA and patrol uniform.

“The pre-selected fabrics were used by the designers in prototyping their designs as entries to the police uniform design competition,” Sindac said.

The static display of fabrics and designs to be showcased during the fashion show next month will be open until November 8.

Ontog said the main consideration in choosing PNP’s new uniform design its comfort.

He said police officers should be comfortable in moving around with the new uniform in any kind of weather. The design should also show cops’ discipline and authority.

The fabric to be used should also have security features to prevent criminals from copying the PNP uniform and pretend as cops.

“Maraming pagbabago sa PNP na ating ginagawa kagaya ng pagbili natin ng mga baril at mga ibang pang bagay. Ito ay parte ng isang malaking programa ng ating chief PNP, Director General Alan Purisima upang talagang maging maganda ang performance ng ating mga myembro ng PNP,” Ontog said.

 

No additional financial burden for cops

Ontog, meanwhile, reiterated that PNP personnel will not have to pay any additional amount to get the redesigned uniform, as the money to be used will come from their clothing allowance.

“Lahat po kami merong ganyang allowance so hindi po natin proproblemahin yung pondo sapagkat nakalagay na po yan sa budget ng PNP,” Ontog said.