Police chief for service

I’ve talked with a lot of people who have good words for PLtCol Ariel Philip Iyo Pontillas, chief of police of Gingoog City Police Station. A visit to his office is delightful, for one sees a whole shelf of plaques, badges decoration and medals commending him for his “remarkable contribution” to the police service. Of the 81 awards given him, he is most proud of the Silver Eagle Award for his rating of 90.57% in the performance governance system proficiency stage. His other awards are for his “initiating compelling strategies and programs” such as Pulis Ko, Titser Ko, Kiddie Pulis, and Barangay Ayaw sa Druga.

I rang his office last Sunday for some information, and I was surprised he was there. “Yes ma’am, mag monitor ko always. I’m always on call pag Sunday.”

It feels good hearing a police chief talk about how much he loves his job. He told me, “I love my job with full conviction, this is my passion, this is my calling, and this is my vocation. I love to serve and protect especially the innocent ones. I’m available to the public 24/7.”

Believing in the potential of the youth for peace-making, he initiated the Kiddie Pulis First Aid Training in partnership with the City Disaster Risk Reduction. The Kiddie Pulis basketball training aims to equip young people with the knowledge pertaining to emergency care, and to develop sportsmanship and camaraderie.

When he was assigned in CDO his Station 3 was judged for Best Practice “Kiddie Pulis” as well as the recognition of being the first-ever Most Child-Friendly Police Station in 2015. Since then, Kiddie Pulis has been utilized in every child advocacy program and benchmarked to all barangays within the area of responsibility of Station 3.

Another significant innovation of the colonel is the PNP Mobile Library which brings books and school supplies, visual aid and TV screen mostly donated by stakeholders, to remote barangays where there is no access to educational facilities. Police officers act as teachers telling stories to children and sharing with them moral lessons.

The colonel turned 44 last July 1. Tall and personable, and, as long-time city residents say, approachable, he would not fit in the global hostile circle attacking police brutality.

“I disapprove of police brutality,” he said. “I believe not all policemen in the world are brutal, only a few of us are, but most of us are ready for the people who need our help. Ninety percent of our 67 policemen are in the streets to serve and protect people, even if it cost us our lives and career, we will do our sworn duty.”

“Yes, we need policemen. Some measure of law enforcement is required to keep the peace, maintain order, and provide for free movement and furtherance of commerce. That need is amplified in today’s ever-advancing society. Almost universally, it is now accepted that police forces are necessary.”

The colonel has a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Christ the King College, and another bachelor’s degree in public safety from the Philippine National Academy in Tagaytay. He is also a licensed criminologist. His first assignment was with the PNP Commando Force where he was deployed to the Caraga region in Mindanao, then was detailed with the Police Regional Office 13 for its anti-insurgency campaign. His other assignments include serving as chief of police in Sagay, Camiguin, then in Oroquieta, Misamis Occidental, then Cagayan de Oro, and finally in Gingoog two years ago.

Tsip Aye, as he is popularly called, almost became a priest. He was a sacristan in Gingoog’s Roman Catholic church from Grade IV until he finished high school. After graduation he enrolled at the San Jose de Mindanao seminary in Camaman-an, Cagayan de Oro City. But after three years, he dropped out. “I don’t know, I felt I was not really cut out for the priesthood.” So off he went back to study in Gingoog, his hometown.

He is very pleased that his post is Gingoog, which, he says “is peaceful, a livable city, an ideal place to stay, invest and do business.”

His father was a police captain here, and his mother worked for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. His wife, the former Charryl Lanasa, a schoolteacher, and their five children are bonafide Gingoognons.

As influential his father was in his life, his being a sacristan for many years had an impact on him. “My being a sacristan developed my faith in God, my fear in God. I offer everything to him, my life, my service to his people, my family.”

Gingoog (pop: 136,000), is trumpeted as a haven for the elderly, especially for foreigners married to local belles. The crime rate is low: 286 arrests from Jan. 1-May 31 in 2019, now only 226 from Jan. 31.

Interestingly the big number of cases is personal injuries caused by drunk residents, but Tsip Aye said the number has been reduced because of a liquor ban. Vehicular accidents are next, most often caused by public conveyances speeding on the national highway.

In his commitment and dedication to fight illegal drugs, Tsip Aye made his own barangay-based strategy that empowers people to come up in open-together stand-together rally to fight illegal drug activities in the barangay. The Barangay Ayaw Sa Druga (BAD) program has been instrumental in the arrest of notorious drug pushers.

As of this time illegal drugs is again on the track, with former drug addicts coming out of their foxholes. Arresting these pushers is his priority now, Tsip Aye said.

“We are also frontliners in safeguarding the city against the unseen coronavirus,” he said. “This battle is worse since we cannot see our enemy, but with the strong collaboration with the local COVID TASK FORCE the city has no local transmission because we have our preventive, proactive and precautionary measures implemented in all entrance points in our city.”

The police also help take suspected cases to the three isolation units outside the poblacion. Fortunately, there has been no coronavirus victims in the city.

Tsip Aye is also a farmer, owning a land area inherited from his parents, which are planted to cacao, coffee, timber, rice, poultry, swine and livestock. He visits his farm once in a while, and spends time to teach his children the importance of self-reliance, and teach them to recognize and respect the rights of other people.

Pontillas’ police force is into non-police activities such as a feeding and gift-giving program for the Higaonons, a local tribe. This project is supported by the local government unit under the leadership of Mayor Eric Cañosa and Vice Mayor Peter Unabia.

In his 15-year career as a law enforcer, Pontillas’ most dreaded experience was his leading a team to rescue a three-year-old boy being kept hostage by his father. The rescue lasted for hours, and Pontillas had a hand-to-hand combat with the father. The boy was set free, with a wound in his neck. Bystanders told the police chief to shoot and kill the deranged father, but he said no, “because I value life most.”

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