ALL ORGANIZATIONS are stratified. Salaries are based on seniority which in turn are based on the level of responsibility that is undertaken. When there are salary increases, it is usual for an overall increase of, say four percent, to be applied to all employees. This means that salary differentials between various levels in the organization stay the same in percentage terms.
We may not be happy with our salary but we can see the logic in the organization’s salary structure.
But not the police.
In 2017, president Duterte reportedly said that he would double the salary of police officers. This was implemented in a bizarre fashion. The salary of entry level police officers was indeed doubled (from approximately P14, 800 per month to P29, 600). A spectacular 100 percent increase.
But the salaries of longer serving officers who had gained promotion were not doubled. They received only a few percent increase. This has meant that the differentials between officers of different ranks have been drastically reduced.
This surely has reduced the morale of the more senior officers who see that inexperienced ‘newbies’ are earning almost the same as they are.
***
Last week’s news that three new police officers undergoing special training at the 2nd Mobile Group in Sara, Iloilo were hospitalized is troubling. One officer was reported as suffering from dehydration. This is a cause for concern since the elapsed time between the visible onset of dehydration and fatal consequences is short.
I hope a genuinely independent inquiry is carried out to ensure that the training, though demanding, is safe from adverse consequences.
***
Around 30 years ago, the medical profession inflicted on the rest of us the concept of ‘body mass index’. (BMI) This is a formula in which one’s weight in kilograms is divided by the square of one’s height in meters. The result is a number, the BMI. For reasons which have never been made apparent and which in my opinion are arbitrary, our BMI determines whether we are deemed to be underweight, ideal weight, overweight, or obese.
The acting (for quite a long time now) head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa tells us that no police officers are underweight (good news), but that only 54 percent have an ideal weight, 37 percent are overweight, and nine percent are obese (fat). Since there are 190,000 police officers, this means that 87,400 are overweight or fat. (46 percent).
Yikes!
I don’t believe it!
I know a few officers who are quite well-nourished, but they are the exception and do not comprise nearly half that fail the BMI test. Gamboa, not, I believe, a qualified nutritionist, tell them not to eat carbohydrates. No rice?!
Seriously though, a physical fitness program which he also recommends, would be a good idea.
A long time ago I discussed the BMI formula with a doctor. He mentioned that some muscular people, including some basketball players, had a BMI which put them in the overweight category when in fact they should have been classified as normal.
We need to challenge the medical profession more.
‘When constabulary’s duty’s to be done,
A policeman’s lot is not a happy one.’
-‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (1879) act 2
– W.S Gilbert (1836-1911)/PN
