Trained in indigenous Filipino martial arts called Indak Pilantikan Arcanis, the first batch of 14 tanods from the Tondo district learned the rudiments of hand-to-hand combat such as suntukan, tapi-tapi and pilipit in subduing armed criminals.
Tondo police station chief Superintendent Frumento Villareal said most peace and order violators in Tondo are armed with knives, with the tanods the first to respond in the apprehension of such offenders.
"Apart from their nightsticks, these specially trained tanods can easily subdue criminals with their bare hands before turning them over to us," Villareal said.
This eliminates unnecessary injury to armed suspects, he added.
The training program was hatched by Villareal in cooperation with Barangay 118 Zone 9 chairman Rufo Ventura in compliance with the aim of Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes for a joint effort of the police and barangay in stomping criminality under its "Barangay at Pulisya Laban sa Krimen" program.
The tanods were trained once a week for a month under the tutelage of Indak Pilantikan Arcanis guru SPO2 Virgo Villareal, a staunch advocate of peaceful and harmless arrests.
"This form of martial arts is attuned to the Filipino culture where one of the protagonists is armed with a knife, a usual form of encounter in a Filipino neighborhood. We taught the tanods how to subdue the armed suspect without inflicting serious injury," Villareal said.
The 14 especially trained tanods received their certificates of training last Monday in simple ceremonies at the Tondo police station.
"My self-confidence was enhanced after the training," one of the graduates said.
Even residents praised the new breed of tanods as truly responsive in any armed confrontation. Police are only called upon when the situation worsens and more force is needed to pacify them, according to them.
Villareal said more tanods from other barangays are now scheduled to undergo the same martial arts training.