DAVAO CITY —– The Philippine National Police (PNP) stood firm that its policy on visible tattoos is not a form of discrimination against inked individuals but a regulation to be complied with by members of the police force.
PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo last Saturday said they respect public opinion about the matter but explained regulating police officers from sporting visible unauthorized tattoos has already been implemented since the creation of the PNP she explained that authorized tattoos are the so-called “aesthetic tattoos” such as those in the eyebrows, eyeliner or even lips.
The issue of policemen having tattoos resurfaced and became a hot topic after the First Lady said her children are of good character because they are not tattooed individuals.
It may be a no-no to the First Lady but her husband- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confers the Presidential Medal of Merit on February 14, this year.
But the first couple even invited the 106-year-old indigenous Kalinga woman, Apo Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, the famous tattooist, and appreciated her skills as an artist.
As it is now many police and army personnel are sporting different styles of tattoos on their bodies while others prefer to decorate their body with the names of their children and even patron saints.
During the identification of the victims who were beyond recognition during the Masa landslide, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents said the tattoo marks on the bodies of the victims helped in identifying the cadavers.
Fajardo however said “This is not, in any way, to discriminate iyon pong mga ibang tao po na mayroon pong tattoo. We will be in agreement doon sa mga nagsasabing iyong paglalagay po ng tattoo is a form of self-expression and freedom of expression,” she added.
She, however, emphasized that “it is the position of the PNP, like any other constitutional freedom, [that] this is not absolute.”
Fajardo also revealed that a consultation was held, resulting in the consensus to regulate only the so-called visible unauthorized tattoos or those that are promoting extremism, racist, sexist, and indecent tattoos.
