Bohol police to train Cebu counterparts

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) will send at least 20 young police personnel to Bohol to be trained as tourist police.

After the training, they will be deployed in tourist spots in whole province of Cebu.

Senior Superintendent Erson Digal, CPPO director, told The FREEMAN that they will be sending around 20 to 30 new policemen for training in Bohol.

The new police personnel will undergo training for scuba diving, public speaking and rescue, among others. Most PNP members who will be made to undergo this training are women.

Digal said he will make sure that the officers that he will send to Bohol are “physically, mentally and emotionally fit for the training.” The officers will be asked to echo what they learned from Bohol by conducting the same training here in Cebu.

Digal further said that he will put at least 10 tourist police in every tourist spot in the Province of Cebu. Digal, though, is still waiting a go signal from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7.

He named seven priority towns for the posting of tourist police. These are the Malapascua island in Daanbantayan, the three-town Bantayan island, the southern towns of Moalboal, Badian, Oslob, and Argao, as well as San Francisco in the Camotes group of islands.

Digal also said that Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was the one who urged him to train policemen to secure Cebu’s tourism areas. He plans to ask financial assistance from the Provincial Government.

Meanwhile, Digal also directed all chiefs of police (COPs) in the whole province of Cebu to conduct at least an hour’s lecture for elementary and high school students regarding drugs, gang membership and other crimes.

Digal said that he directed his COPs to let their men coordinate with the municipal governments and the principal of every school.

The purpose of conducting a lecture is to let the students know what they are getting into with regards to illegal drugs and gangs.

The plan is to conduct lectures among students in grades 4 to 6 and all levels in high school. — THE FREEMAN