House panel OKs lowering height requirement for cops

MANILA, Philippines — A House panel has approved a measure seeking to lower the minimum height requirements for police officers.

The committee on public order and safety has approved the substitute bill seeking to revise the height requirements for applicants in the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other agencies under the Department of the Interior and Local Government, during a virtual meeting on Thursday afternoon.

The measure proposed the lowering of the minimum height from 5’4” to about 5’2” for male police officers, and from 5’2” to about 5’0” for females.

The same adjustment was sought for applicants in the Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and Bureau of Corrections.

The bill also sought the removal of existing waiver of height requirement for applicants from cultural communities and indigenous peoples, citing abuses in implementation.

Instead, it set the height requirement for these applicants at 5’0” for males and 4’8” for females.

However, the bill provided for exemptions for applicants for the Philippine National Police Academy, upon the request of the PNPA’s acting director, Brig. Gen. Rhoderick Armamento, who said the current trend worldwide shows a consistent increase in the average height of men and women in the police service.