NCRPO forms all-women police precinct in BGC

MANILA, Philippines — Starting this month, policewomen would be trained to run the peacekeeping and law enforcement operations in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig where an all-women police precinct will be established, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) announced over the weekend.

NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas made the announcement in line with the worldwide observance of International Women’s Day yesterday.

Sinas said around 100 policewomen would be assigned with the BGC police community precinct after a month-long training on police procedures.

“It would be an all-women police precinct, even drivers and desk officers,” Sinas told reporters.

He launched the first all-women police station in a fifth-class municipality in Siquijor last year when he was Central Visayas police director.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is authorized to recruit 10,000 personnel with a starting patrol officer rank yearly.

PNP data showed that about 16.6 percent of the 190,000-strong national police force are females while 83.4 percent are men.

To tighten the wide gap between the number of men and women in the PNP, a proposal was filed in Congress last year to increase the recruitment quota for policewomen from 10 to 20 percent. 

Once passed, it would amend the two-decades old PNP Reform Law that reserves for women only 10 percent of all new slots for recruits.

Sinas has vowed to replicate in Metro Manila his programs for women empowerment, including the appointment of female police chiefs.