A dense forest does not become one instantly. It will take years of challenges that will try to weather the growth of a “sapling”. But with due resilience and patience despite limited capability, a lone tree could populate with other trees to form a dense and healthy forest providing safety and security to other creatures, including men.
A new police officer is likened to a sapling that carries all that is in the Philippine National Police (PNP), wholeheartedly embracing its vision and mission, as well as its very heart and soul for public service.
PNP through the Police Community Affairs and Development Group (PCADG) under the tutelage of then Acting Director Police Colonel Patrick Joseph G. Allan, appointed a total of 150 so-called greenhorns, laying down a historic all-female Newly Appointed Police Non-Commissioned Officers (NAPNCOs) for a National Support Unit on a rainy 14th day of October 2022. All were ceremoniously welcomed at the PNP Grandstand in Camp BGen Rafael T. Crame, Quezon City.
The Oath-Taking Ceremony was administered by Police Lieutenant General Rhodel O. Sermonia, the PNP Deputy Chief for Administration, in behalf of the PNP Chief, Police General Rodolfo S. Azurin, Jr.
“Let this significant breakthrough in your respective police careers motivate you to deliver competent and quality services for the benefit of our main clientele – the Filipino people and to be the embodiment of “honor”, “accountability” and “integrity”, because as public officers, we owe it to them and to our beloved country. So goes the dictum: “We are primarily here to serve, and not to be served,” PGen Azurin said in a letter, aptly delivered by PLTGen Sermonia.
Such a recruitment may be a peculiarity in itself – unique and nonconforming. However, the appointment of the battalion of a new breed of all-female law enforcers for the Police Community Affairs and Development Group left a bold mark in the history of recruitment of the Philippine National Police – an organization known for being widely dominated by males since its promulgation in 1991. This gives premium and adequate acknowledgement to the role of women in society.
In the annals of recorded history, a woman is generally viewed as inferior to the male specie, mostly looked down upon by society resulting to the denial of women’s very basic human rights, such as equal access to education and employment, among other rights and entitlements.
Nowadays, men and women are generally treated equal without bias and prejudice but rather through merit, capability and talent. Everyone is given an equal footing to start and enjoy life.
The all-female NAPNCOs of PCADG are expected to face rigorous trainings and challenges. But it is guaranteed that their potentials shall be refined to flourish through time, similar to saplings that sprout in spring and prosper in summer, saplings that hold limitless potentials and carry out the hope of the modern generation of law enforcers.
After undergoing the mandatory six months Public Safety Basic Recruit Course (PSBRC), and another six months Public Safety Field Training Program (PSFTP), the addition of the new saplings will surely further bolster the Police Community Relations (PCR) operation of the Philippine National Police, standing tall among the three elements of Quad Policy through the PCAD Master Plan “TAGATAGUYOD”.
