PNP wants cops to climb 10 stories to get promoted

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is looking into the possibility of requiring all its personnel to undergo the “10-story ascension standard test” as among the required exercises in the semestral physical fitness test.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said being able to climb 10 flights of stairs will be a premium in selecting officers for sensitive positions.

He said PNP chief Director General Jesus Versoza has already instructed the Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development (DHRDD) to conduct test runs and come up with a minimum speed and endurance table that will be adopted in physical fitness tests.

“For senior officers seeking higher positions in the organization, the 10 flights of stairs will be their virtual career ladder to advance to key positions,” Verzosa said.

Last week, the DHRDD made a series of evaluation runs at the Atlanta Tower in Greenhills, with 24 male and female test subjects representing six different age groups between 21 and 55 years old, to determine how fast they could accomplish the exercise and use it as standard for various age brackets.

DHRDD chief Director German Doria and Director Leopoldo Bataoil, Directorate for Police Community Relations chief, who both belong to the 50-up age group, completed the 10-story ascent in under two minutes.

Bartolome said the PNP is seriously considering this standard speed and endurance record for the said exercise.

Bartolome said a rookie policeman who is a marathon runner belonging to the 29-below age bracket completed the ascent in 39 seconds.