Philippines police have been ordered to take English grammar lessons and lose weight to improve their crime-fighting abilities, the national police chief said on Wednesday.
English professors from the country’s best universities have been tapped to conduct six-month grammar courses at the police force’s Philippine Public Safety College, Director General Edgardo Aglipay told reporters.
The lessons should assist police file cases against criminals, Interior Undersecretary Margarita Cojuangco said. English is the official language of the judiciary in the Philippines.
Police will also be made to undergo leadership and stress-management courses at the same school, Cojuangco said.
Meanwhile, a strict physical-fitness regimen will be instated and those officers deemed to be overweight will be ordered to trim their waistlines, Aglipay said.
Fifty-five overweight police were sent to a camp in the northern Philippines last month for one month’s training, he added. — Sapa-AFP