Coast Guard commissions K-9 squad

Man’s best friend joins the Coast Guard.

Ten imported bomb-sniffing dogs or K-9s were commissioned by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday as enlisted "apprentice seamen" that will board ships at the major ports and check for explosives in packages and baggage. The ceremony was held as part of activities marking the celebration of the PCG’s 101st anniversary.

Amid cheers from an amused crowd, which included Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, the dogs received the military’s traditional identification necklace, appropriately called dog tags.

The bomb-sniffing team is made up of trained Labrador Retrievers and Belgian Malinois breeds. They are named Lupin, Batch, Nikki, Schelin, Amor, Ars, Bulky, Bambi, Starskie and Bruce with respective serial numbers K-200201 to K-200210.

PCG commandant Vice Admiral Reuben Lista said the 10 dogs were acquired at a cost of P6.6 million, which included expenses for training, food and vitamins.

The dogs, which will initially be used at Manila ports, finally received their mission orders after two years of rigid training.

Lista said they want to train 40 more dogs for deployment in the PCG’s 10 regional offices.

"Our K-9s may not be enough since we have more than 1,000 ports to guard, but we are maximizing the services of these dogs by having them on standby for any call," Lista said.

Churchhill Gomez, who trained the dogs, said the next batch of dogs will be deployed in Zamboanga, General Santos and Davao.

Ensign Larry Estonanto, the K-9 officer-in-charge, said the dogs have proven to be valuable assets in explosives detection and drug searches.

Lista said the commissioning of the K-9s into PCG service was approved by the Commission on Audit since the dogs are now considered "civil servants" and part of the national bureaucracy.

"Such procedure is not new in the military service. Even horses were commissioned in the early days for their invaluable service to the country," he said. – Jose Aravilla, Nestor Etolle