Philippine National Police chief Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa kicked up his heels and swayed to the music in a zumba line at the parade grounds in Camp Crame, Quezon City yesterday, launching a new fitness program for the 160,000-strong organization as it marked its 115th anniversary.
“How will you pursue drug addicts if you cannot run. Some are already ahead but others lag behind because they cannot keep up with the pace of the operation,” Dela Rosa explained, stressing members of the force needed to be physically fit “because we are at war.”
Earlier, starting at around 4:30 a.m., thousands of PNP personnel jogged or biked from Green Meadows Subdivision and Quezon Memorial Circle to the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame where they joined the zumba session.
Dela Rosa said he would no longer enforce the 34-inch minimum waistline requirement imposed by previous administrations. Instead, he would use the so-called body-mass index which correlates body height with the proper weight range.
“Some are having difficulty meeting the 34 inches so our basis now will be body-mass index (BMI) so as to rationalize our physical fitness [assessment]. There are others who we know will not be physically able to cope, and we don’t want them to die because of reducing [through crash diets],” the PNP chief said.
After the morning exercise, the policemen were given breakfast consisting of pan de sal, hot dog, fruit and boiled egg.
Younger policemen took the opportunity to take selfies with the PNP chief.
Dela Rosa, his speech, underscored the need for policemen to be healthy and fit, saying, “How can we serve the people if we are physically unfit?”
Later in the day, President Rodrigo Duterte addressed officers and members of the force and led the awarding of outstanding uniformed and non-uniformed members.