WRITERS' INTRO : I have seen Sheila twice. She was the emcee during the "Street Children Got Talent Too" of the Cebu City Police Office November of 2014 and then as the emcee again of the Christmas party of Cebu Provincial Police Office.
The first time she was as slim as how she is now and the second time she was happily dancing with a baby bulge.
She is a natural on stage...a quality which is needed for a police to be convincing in communicating its programs -- to bring the police closer to the community.
FCC
“There is no such thing as
no way out for women. There are always choices
and there is the PNP to help.”
This was the ready answer of 27 year old Police Officer 1
Sheila Mae Opong, of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) 7 when asked
why she accepted a quite difficult task--- the task of representing Central
Visayas in this year’s search for Miss PNP
Ganda Pulis 2017.
“Even with all the modernity, information within reach
from the internet and media, there are still a lot of women out there, who
believed it is normal to be abused..helpless,” Opong said.
This is her advocacy to be a tool, an instrument as a
woman in a male dominated profession, to be of help to other women and
children, the most vulnerable of all abuses.
She said stories of Nanays,
Ates, girlfriends who were boxed, choked, beaten, raped, forced to have sex
are her daily dish as Women and Children Police Desk Officer (WCPDO) in a police
station in Cebu City.
According to her, something must be done, these women
should know, the police can help them.
“They need to know about rights, who to run for immediate
assistance and remedies of their situation, we are just here,” she said.
Opong said it is a difficult task for her not only
because there was lesser time to prepare, but she might be out to go upfront
the possible ridicule of some “close-minded” people.
“I am a single mother, I have a two year old baby boy who
is my reason to wake up every day and be inspired all the more to serve women
who thought their worlds are as small as their hands,” Opong said.
Almost every little thing in the police organization is
news with media branding it as a source of “juicy stories”.
A lot of expectations are being put up with men in
uniform, much more with women in uniform.
“To me, I am even more credible to speak to women, as one
like them, as a mother, that we do have choices, to stop any violence
experienced and to make a difference, or even to become the person you want to
be,” Opong said.
She said destiny had directed her to be in the
information sector of the PNP. Currently
she is the Police Community Relations Officer of PPSC7.
She is a registered nurse prior to entering the Police Special Basic Recruit Course (PSBRC) in 2012. She graduated part of Alagdad class.
Opong is a
native of Villaba Leyte but finished her college degree in Cebu City.
She was a member of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation
(ERUF) immediately after college and served for three years.
Opong was also the crowned “Polis Fashionista 2014”.
On whether she’ll bring home the bacon as the “Gandang
Police 2017”, she is quite hopeful.
Opong said she also needs the Cebuanos, Boholanos and
Siquihodnons prayers:
“I know my worth and I know what I can, this is for PRO7,
this is for us women”.
