Verzosa to new cops: Be the best

FORT CASTAÑEDA, Silang, Cavite, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa yesterday told the 324 graduating cadets of the PNP Academy (PNPA) to be the best officers that they can be.

“I ask you to render due honor to them by being the best officers you can be, whether you have chosen to join the police, the fire or jail services. Honor them by performing your duties always along the core values of integrity and service,” Verzosa said during the Council of Advisers Day here.

The cadets, PNPA Kaisang-Bisig Class of 2009, will graduate tomorrow with President Arroyo as guest of honor and speaker.

Verzosa said the cadets should “continue to serve and protect the Filipino nation along the values of service, honor and justice that we uphold.”

“We assure you of our best as we strive harder each day to realize the objectives we have set forth in our reform program so that we can finally give our countrymen a national police force that is truly capable, effective and credible,” he said.

Cadette Roan Marie Dinlo Bascugin, 22, of Cavite topped the graduates, who will be officially appointed by the President to the PNP, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

PNP administrator Chief Superintendent Danilo Abarsoza told The STAR that Bascugin will be among the 266 graduates who will join the PNP.

He said 25 graduates will join the BJMP and 15 will be assigned to the BFP.

All the 304 graduates will have ranks of inspector, which is equivalent to lieutenant in the military.

Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) president Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco said Bascugin is the second lady cadet to emerge topnotcher of a PNPA class. 

Annaliza Pama Bides of Class 2000 was the first lady cadet to top a graduating class.

Bides is now the deputy for the Directorate for Human Resource and Records Management at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

“I am proud that our women cadets are now beginning to prove that they too can excel in a field which is believed to be largely for men,” Cojuangco said. 

The PNPA had its first woman graduate in 1995 after it began admitting female cadets in the cadetship program in 1993 in accordance with Republic Act 7192 or the Women in Development and National Building Act.

Women empowerment

Sen. Loren Legarda, meanwhile, lauded Bascugin’s achievement. 

“By leading a field of 304 cadets, the 22-year-old Bascugin, a native of Cavite, showed that a woman can top a primarily male-dominated field,” Legarda said.

As the first woman to occupy the post of majority leader during her first term at the Senate, Legarda said she shared the experience and sense of accomplishment of Roan Marie.

“I found that to be entrusted with a position of leadership did not necessarily mean that I have to abandon my being a woman and play like a man in the still male-dominated Senate,” she said.

“I quickly learned that to earn the respect of my male colleagues, I did not have to be, so to speak, ‘a woman with balls’ but simply a woman with a strong backbone.”

Legarda said Bascugin and all the other women who would serve and who are already serving in the PNP are empowering women in the country.

She said more female police officers are needed to tackle gender-sensitive matters, like complaints relating to domestic violence, rape and abuse of minors.

She said that policewomen, with further training in forensics, psychology and community relations, can serve the PNP well, so there is a need to provide them with skills improvement avenues. – Christina Mendez