Photo from Marhom Ibrahim/BIO
COTABATO CITY—Almost over a year after the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Bangsamoro Government forged an agreement, an initial batch of qualified members of both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) began their journey to the police force.
On June 21, a total of 1,000 qualified and organic members of both organizations reported to PNP-Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PNP-PRO BAR) to attend the general orientation and subsequently undergo Body Mass Index (BMI) and Physical Agility Test (PAT) as part of the entry screening.
In a press statement from Camp Crame grabbed from state-run Radyo Pilipinas World Services’ official Facebook page, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said that the PNP has started processing the list of endorsed applicants.
“The applicants would have to pass the body mass index (BMI) test, physical agility test, psychological examination, physical and dental examination,” Fajardo said, on top of the other criteria such as background investigation, among others.
In an exclusive interview with Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) co-chair Mohaqher Iqbal, he confirmed that both MILF and MNLF have endorsed their qualified members for the PNP integration, where he emphasized that since the screening in PNP would be rigid, there’s an obvious risk that some of the applicants would be unable to make it to the final cut.
However, he clarified that if the number of successful candidates exceeded the approved quota for this year, the excess would be given priority in the subsequent batch.
“There’s an obvious risk dito sa recruitment kaya sa parte ng MILF at MNLF, mayroong mga criteria sa mga ini-endorsong aplikante to ensure na malaki yung chance na makapasa sila,” Iqbal said.
An example of those who were given priority are those individuals who were in good physical shape and held a college degree were given priority.
After their oath-taking, the successful applicants would undergo a one-year basic recruitment basic course and a six-month field training program, and would be given a temporary appointment status. (Abdullah Matucan/BIO)
