Police not exempted from smoking ban

Policemen are not exempted from the metro-wide smoking ban imposed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), according to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

“The no smoking campaign of the MMDA covers every policeman on duty. There is no exemption. We are the first to follow and there should be no excuses for it,” said NCRPO spokesperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos.

The NCRPO is conducting an information drive in all police districts in line with the directive of NCRPO Director Chief Supt. Alan Purisima last week that uniformed policemen should not smoke in public areas identified by MMDA and should maintain proper decorum while on duty.

Purisima issued the order last week after noticing that some police personnel were smoking and some don’t have proper decorum—even table etiquette—while on break.

“How can the people respect us if some of our men have asal kanto? How will we expect people to follow the smoking ban if some of the policemen would violate this?” he said.

Carlos said the NCRPO has formed a “technical workgroup” that will issue the guidelines on how men in uniform should conduct themselves in public.

He added that the public can report erring policemen by sending the name of police, location, and time to the NCRPO’s program “Subukan Nyo Po Kami” at numbers 09158888181 or 09999018181. Penelope P. Endozo