Community sounds off on Guam Police Department ‘No cultural statement’

Many community members took to social media in response to a story we aired last week about an order handed down by Guam Police Department Col. Joseph Carbuillido, banning the use of the sinahi by officers, saying it gives off an 'unprofessional appearance.'

One commented, “Unprofessional appearance? It's a symbol of our culture and heritage.”

Another said, “Wearing a sinahi should be the least of your worries. What about putting corruption as a priority?”

And one more commented, “This is dumb we should be able to represent who we are proudly.”

At a command staff meeting held the same day the story aired, along with mentioning that personnel must comply with written and verbal orders, uniform conformance was reiterated but now along with sinahis, no political or cultural statements are allowed to be worn.

As KUAM reported, the order came from Carbullido after seeing officers in civilian attire wearing a sinahi during a press conference.

Dr. Mike Bevacqua, Curator for the Guam Museum said the claim of ‘unprofessional appearance’ is a strange argument.

“What is our identity as an island as a people? FestPAC is coming up in a few months and one of the things we learned from FestPAC when we turn to our brothers and sisters across the Pacific, each of them are trying to preserve their own way of expressing themselves…When someone says that's cultural, that's inappropriate, we have to ask ourselves, for who? On whose behalf are we erasing culture,” said Bevacqua. 

He added, “We've had a few decades in which people such as Angel Santos and others who have taken a stand and been criticized and have worn the brunt of those who called them true radicals, too out of the mainstream…but they basically reminded us that it's ok to be CHamoru. There's nothing wrong of being proud of being CHamoru.307

And in regards to ‘no cultural statements,’ Bevacqua said, “What kind of message is GPD sending with an order like that, are they basically trying to say officers can't express themselves, why is that better?”

We should note that since the story has aired and concerns from officers have been brought to the command staff's attention, KUAM has yet to receive any comment, clarification or statement from GPD regarding the matter.