ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Braving waves, strong current, and jelly stings, the highest ranking police official of Western Visayas has conquered — by swimming across — the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait on Monday (May 7).
Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Police Regional Office-6 (PRO-6) director, led 40 other swimmers from the region's different provinces for the 1st RD PRO-6 Swim for a Cause.
The 53-year-old Binag clocked 2 hours and 27 minutes in crossing the 2.5-kilometer distance between Iloilo Fort San Pedro and the Jordan Ro-Ro Port in Guimaras.
Binag's time was 30 minutes slower when he had his last practice swim over the weekend. As one of the oldest among the 41 participants, he also made history as the first star-ranked PNP official to swim the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait.
It was also the first time that such a number of swimmers were gathered for an event to swim the strait. "I can't imagine that we would be able to cross. Thank God, indeed," Binag said during the closing ceremony.
Binag said he was praying hard to finish the swim "for my men, for my troops and for the cause it represents."
The region's top policeman has no professional swim training and had not participated in any swimming competition in the past. The idea to do a swim for a cause came up around July last year when Binag had been frequenting Guimaras Island.
"The idea had kept coming back. But I don't want to swim the strait for the sake of swimming. I don't want to do it for personal glory," he said, adding that it was about raising funds.
On November 22 last year, policemen were ambushed in Sibalom, Antique wounding three policemen. Three days later, another encounter happened in Maasin, Iloilo where a policeman was killed and 10 others were wounded.
Binag said they thought of doing a fund-raising activity. "But I don't want to beg. I want to work hard for us to be worthy sa kung ano matatanggap namin," he said.
The swim-for-a-cause was organized by the Regional Advisory Council for Police Transformation and Development-6 (RACPTD6). Aside from raising awareness on the effects of climate change and promote tourism of Guimaras and Iloilo, it would identify volunteers for search and rescue operations during emergency situations.
It was also designed to raise funds for the benefit of the PNP personnel who were killed or wounded in action. In the past, the RCAPTD-6 had partnered with PRO-6 in raising funds and were able to provide financial aid to personnel who were killed and wounded in the Maasin and Sibalom ambush incidents. The assistance was from the funds raised during the "Dalagan Para sa Kapulisan" and the "God Bless our Cops Concert." (FREEMAN)