The Philippine National Police (PNP) has suspended the implementation of the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a requirement for promotion of its uniformed personnel.

In a memorandum dated Jan. 18, PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. approved the recommendation to suspend the incorporation of the BMI as part of the Physical Fitness Test for all policemen.

Instead, Azurin approved the traditional computation wherein only event or exercise performance is computed.

"This means that only the result of the event/exercise like push-up, sit-up, run, etc shall be the basis for the result of the annual PFT of all our personnel," said PNP chief information officer Col. Redrico Maranan.

BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Using the metric system, it is computed by dividing a person’s weight expressed in kilograms by a person’s height in meters squared (or multiplying the height by itself), or BMI= kg/m².

According to the experts, a BMI less than 18.5 is considered as underweight while those between 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI between 25-29.9 is considered overweight while those who have more than 30 BMI are considered obese.

When BMI was incorporated in the PNP physical fitness assessment during the time of retired PNP chief Archie Gamboa, it took 30 percent of the total performance evaluation in PFT.

On the other hand, the performance on exercises composed 70 percent of the PFT evaluation. The traditional event/ exercises are composed of sit ups, push ups, sprinting and jogging.

Gamboa pushed for the incorporation of the BMI to improve the image of the PNP amid portrayal of policemen with bulging stomachs as corrupt, lazy and undisciplined in social media.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was already a proposal to suspend the BMI implementation amid complaints of some policemen who either found it hard to comply or felt discriminated against by the policy.