YES, armed and pretty, and dangerous, too, don’t mess with them.
Have you noticed how charming the new breed of policewomen have become? Yes, including the batch of 800 who listened enraptured to their chief of all chiefs at the Ninth National Biennial Summit on Women in Policing. Including the President’s close-in security who seemed to be his aide-de-camp but has not been seen escorting him at formal ceremonies during the last few weeks.
At the summit, their guest of honor let go a smattering of his favorite bad words and made some wisecracks, to the delight of his charmed audience. He, too, was charmed, so thrilled to the bone by their lovely smiles and giggles that he gave away cash rewards and Glock pistols. The TV cameras panned the audience – how different they looked from previous generations. Their hair was smartly styled for action and heavy duty (in a manner of speaking), their skins were smooth and clear, they knew how to walk in their straight skirts and low-heeled pumps, their eyebrows were neatly trimmed, and they wore pink or red lipstick!
Could be the influence of Soroptimist International of the Philippines Region who have been partnering with the female force of the Philippine National Police and upholding their mission to empower policewomen even at the cost of “encroaching on the turf of the PNP male hierarchy” (in the words of Soroptimist Carmen A. Flor). Held Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 at Apo View Hotel in the hottest travel destination called Davao City, the summit spotlighted the Soroptimists’ achievements over the last 18 years, the most important being women’s desks in all police stations, women promoted to the rank of police superintendent and police director, and women in command posts in the mainstream of police work.
The President’s message in the souvenir program was dry and boring, didn’t sound like his work at all. But when he stood before the ladies, in uniform and in Soroptimist fashion, his eyes twinkled, his smiles were mischievous. The boyfriends better be careful, now that the cops have their lock on a Glock, ready to shoot at a delicate part of the male anatomy. (Jullie Y. Daza)