Bill to adjust height requirement for cops approved by Senate

On Monday, the Senate approved on third and final reading a bill which seeks to adjust the height requirements for cops and other uniformed personnel.

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Twenty-three senators agreed to pass Senate Bill No. 1563 or the proposed “PNP, BFP, BJMP and BuCor Height Equality Act,” which aims to lowers the height requirement to 5 feet and 2 inches for males, and to 5 feet for females who wish to enter the PNP, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), as well as the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Bureau of Correction (BuCor).

Existing laws require a minimum height of 1.62 meters (5'3'') for male and 1.57 meters (5'2'') for female applicants in the said institutions.

We give more in law to those who have less in height,

 said Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, who sponsored and defended the bill in plenary.

We give an important contribution in addressing the social inequality for those who have not been gifted with towering height,

he said, noting that shorter people are almost always discriminated in society.

Further, the bill also provides that applicants belonging to cultural communities or indigenous people may be granted waiver for the height requirement.

The bill is seen to broaden the pool of prospective applicants in the four agencies.

Sen. Leila de Lima was the lone senator who was unable to vote on the measure as she remains detained in Camp Crame over her alleged involvement in the drug trade during her watch as Justice secretary. She has repeatedly denied the accusations. 

The Senate earlier scrapped proposals to remove the height requirement for police, firemen, and jail guards, saying officers cannot be too short to handle some equipment and perform some tasks.

In 2013, a bill repealing the height requirement for applicants of the PNP, BFP, and BJMP was vetoed by then-President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, maintaining that these uniformed personnel have to reach minimum height requirements to fulfill their duties well because of the nature of their work. 

Meanwhile, Senator Pia Cayetano suggested that PNP and other law enforcement agencies to look into feeding programs. She said that nutritional intervention could be done on stunted growth.