Superintendent Rommel Miranda, the spokesman of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO), is set to leave for the United States as the first-ever police official to be given a study grant under the William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Program.

It is the second time Miranda passed the rigid examination and selection process to be a Fulbright scholar, but he failed to take his first study grant as his superiors needed his services here.

“It is not only an honor for me but also for the entire police organization because it only proves that we can also strive for academic excellence despite our hectic schedule,” he said.

After he was forced to give up the first opportunity, Miranda said he immediately applied for the second time last year, this time, more determined to grab the opportunity if given a second chance.

And it did, confirmed by two letters from John Sedlins, the chief of the Humphrey Fellowships and Institutional Linkages, Office of Global Education Programs and Anita McBride, chairman of the Fulbright Scholarship Board.

The Humphrey Program, Miranda said, is under the Fulbright Program.

“I want to congratulate you on your selection as 2010-2011 Hubert Humphrey Fellow... the Program provides you with a unique opportunity to enhance your leadership and professional skills though close involvement with colleagues in the United States,” said Sedlins in a letter sent to Miranda on May 3.

“Your selection for a Humphrey Fellowship is, in itself, an achievement for which you can justly proud of. As a Humphrey fellow, you will join the ranks of distinguished participants in the Fulbright program,” said McBride for her part.

Based on the Program Plan he submitted, Miranda said he chose the area of Law and Human Rights as he believes that there is a need to enhance the mechanism of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and by doing so, would improve the public’s perception and support to the national police organization in the Philippines.

What encouraged him to pursue such a field, Miranda explained, is the prevailing negative perception in the police’s respect for human rights, what with the various controversies that hit the organization such as allegations of “rubouts” and police brutality.

Miranda stressed that the knowledge that he would obtain under the program would help him contribute in crafting measures that would improve the PNP’s performance in the field of human rights.

“Institutionalizing measures for the respect and observance of human rights not only lessen the risk for potential losses within the organization. It promotes better performance of policemen, enhances the organizational image and in the end, contributes to governance and to the development of this country, both economically and socially,” said Miranda.

Miranda is scheduled to leave on August 5 for a 10-month schooling program in the United States under the courses on Human Rights, International Standards and Convention on Human Rights and Use of Force in Law Enforcement.

The Hubert Humphrey Program, under the Fulbright Program, was created in 1978 with the purpose of bringing accomplished professionals from various countries in the United States for a non-degree  study and related professional experiences.

A total of 300,000 Fulbrighters have participated in the program since its inception wherein some of the alumni became heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers and others.