A DIFFERENT COURSE
But instead of a continuous
trajectory in the classroom,
Zosimo ended up entering
the police force while he
was teaching secondary
school. “It was not due
to a desire to change my
working environment,” he
explains. “Our town mayor
approached and requested
me to help him administer the
18-man police force because
the then chief of police was
disqualified by the National
Police Commission.”With civil service eligibilities,
Zosimo was appointed chief of
police with the mandate as he
saw it “to professionalize what
then were mostly uneducated,
politically appointed members
of the police force.” A daunting
task, no doubt, but a strong
conviction to transform his
men into “effective public
safety officers” helped him to
stand fast and persevere.Then another stumbling block
appeared in the way of his
plans. During Martial Law, he
was accused of masterminding
the murder of an elected
official and imprisoned at
Camp Crame, along with two
other policemen. He says,
“Believing in the power of the
Lord to intercede for the cause
of the oppressed, I accepted
the rigors of fighting for justice
in what then was a military
tribunal. The case against us
was dismissed on the grounds
of lack of credibility of the
witnesses against me and two
other respondents.”From His Archives
Zosimo's long and
storied career
in public service
and education has
spanned several
decades—but he's
not about to retire
from living a full
life any time soon.BY IMPRESSING
UPON MY
STUDENTS THE
VALUES OF
UNSELFISHNESS,
RESPECT, AND
TRUTH, I UPHOLD
THE LORD’S
COMMAND TO DO
JUSTICE TO ALL.
Accused of being the
brains behind the murder
of an official, Zosimo was
thrown into jail at Camp
Crame during the volatile
Martial Law era.PHOTO COURTESY OF ZOSIMO BOLAÑOS, VICTOR GUERRERO (MAIN), PIXABAY, AND UNSPLASH.