PNP chief Lacson enforces fitness program - Roses And Thorns

There was a time when soldiers and policemen were the prime examples of physical fitness and discipline. But when martial law was imposed, soldiers no longer existed to protect us from foreign invasions. They became the main oppressors of the people. The police just became an extension of the armed forces and policemen at their beat ceased to be the neighborhood heroes. People were hoping that the People's Power Revolution would change all these. But the image of the military and the police remain tarnished.

Actually, both the military and the police played heroic roles in two events that happened during martial law. We are referring to the noise barrage that everyone seems to have forgotten that happened during the 1978 rigged elections and the People's Power Revolution that followed eight years later in EDSA. In both instances, the people openly expressed their defiance against the Marcos dictatorship. Both events were perfectly peaceful. This was because both the army and the police refused to follow orders. During the noise barrage, both the police and the army did not arrest or even attempt to silence any person who was burning tires or raising all kinds of noise in the streets. The same thing happened during the EDSA Revolution. So in both instances, the military and the police played major roles. They were, in short, silent partners in both demonstrations.

We would very much like to see the day when both the armed and the police forces regain their pre-martial law image of being the friend and protector of the people. It is for this reason that we welcome Gen. Panfilo Lacson's show of concern for the image of our policemen. Soldiers and policemen should not only be physically fit. They should be the national examples of physical fitness. Both cannot comply with their duties if they are not in top physical condition.

At the moment, the popular image of the policeman is that of a potbellied man in uniform. And people do not attribute their paunches to lack of exercise. They say it is because they eat free in all restaurants. The joke is that today when a person eats in an expensive restaurant and cannot pay his bill, he is arrested for impersonating a policeman.

Gen. Lacson announced his Operation Pot Belly on the first day of this month. Six months is reasonable time for the policemen to meet the physical mandate. It is: Shape Up or Ship out.