PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Guillermo Eleazar said he has approved the suspension of the implementation of body mass index (BMI) as a requirement for promotion of police officers.
“We took into consideration the balance between the workload of all our personnel in this time of pandemic and the need for them to comply with this memorandum circular just to be promoted,” he said in a statement.
“Nasa panahon tayo ng pandemya kung saan nangangailangan ng malasakit at pang-unawa sa aming mga tauhan, lalo na ang libu-libo naming personnel na naatasang magpatupad ng minimum public health safety protocol 24 oras,” he added.
Eleazar said the BMI requirement will be implemented again when the situation gets back to normal.
However, Eleazar reminded police personnel to continue taking care of their bodies and gradually lose weight to avoid complications that could lead to a more severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
In the PNP Memorandum Circular 2020-029, policemen were required to strictly maintain BMI in order to apply for promotion.
BMI indicates body fatness which may lead to health problems. It depends on the person’s height.
For most adults, the ideal BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9. A range of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight while those with 30 and above are considered obese. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)