‘Askals’ as bomb-sniffers? Why not?

This is the idea being considered by Central Police District (CPD) director Senior Superintendent Napoleon Castro, who claimed they are not as privileged as other districts that have K-9 bomb-sniffing teams.

Castro told The STAR that since CPD does not have the resources to keep even one bomb-sniffer, it just might be sensible to consider training street dogs (askals) in detecting bombs.

"Sniffers are known to have a keen sense of smell that plays a significant role in detecting explosives thereby prevent acts of terror. Since there are a lot of strays in Camp Karingal, maybe we can try and train them to sniff bombs," he quipped.

Castro noted it is too expensive to maintain a K-9 team because police dogs have a special diet and require continuous training. Instructors don’t come cheap as well, he pointed out.

Should the CPD decide to maintain a K-9 team, Castro said, there should at least be five available sniffers to cover the district’s vast area of 11 jurisdictions.

Currently, the CPD only borrows sniffing dogs from Camp Crame and even from private institutions such as the Iglesia ni Cristo, where it borrowed two dogs in a recent dawn operation in front of the Asian Institute of Tourism along Commonwealth Avenue to check on a package suspected of containing a bomb.

Nevertheless, Castro said he has already requested Camp Crame and Bicutan to provide at least two sniffing dogs for the CPD amid the current bomb scare gripping the metropolis.

The CPD likewise plans to request additional budget from the local government of Quezon City or police regional offices for maintaining the bomb-sniffing dogs they plan to borrow.

The Quezon City police and its Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team has received at least 10 bomb threats in several areas since Friday. These include New York in Cubao, where the bomb was supposedly in a garbage can; Pag-Ibig Fund branch along East Avenue; GMA-Kamuning Station of the MRT (northbound side); Eastwood in Libis; SM malls in Fairview and Sta. Mesa; AIT; a bus in Muñoz; and two more in Cubao.

Yesterday afternoon, members of the SWAT team led by Senior Police Officer 2 Noel Velasquez, responded to reports of a bomb at the Jackliner bus terminal near the SM City Annex in North EDSA. It turned out to be another false alarm.