by admin | Mar 11, 2017 | Kontra Droga, Kontra Terorismo, Major Events, Police Reports
TAGBILARAN CITY, March 11, (PIA)—So what’s with a woman in the elite police force?
There must have something that toughened this frail girl in a brood of four from a remote barangay in Buenavista, Bohol to let her squeeze through hardships as they fall one by one the moment she wears the bulletproof vest of prayer and determination.
The name Arlene Manatad is just like any ordinary Boholano name.
At 27, and a single parent to an 8 year old girl, this innocent looking face and disarming smile is a woman’s taser. But her normal build masks a core toughness that makes Arlene Manatad a name whispered among the elites of Bohol police force.
She has just crossed over the fence of the frail woman image to be honored as the first and only woman member of the elite police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in Bohol.
Said to be the toughest test of physical fitness and agility, mental and spiritual strength among elite police officer’s trainings, SWAT commissioning have been notoriously called the most physically rigorous and mentally straining activity for 77 days of police life.
But for Police Officer 2 Manatad, the pain and the strain are just hurdles towards her determined goal to bring the woman earn its rightful equal footing, with the men.
Born on June 4, 1989 as the youngest in a brood of four, three of them boys, Arlene traces her playgrounds in remote barangay in Lusong, Buenavista town. Their father works as the barangay captian and sallies back and forth with works at the National Grid Corporation while her mother does the child rearing and the housework.
For her, being alone to fend off for herself is never new: she has to walk from her barangay to the nearby elementary school in Lubang, and to stay in a boarding house in Getafe for her secondary schools. By the time she was ripe for college, she opted to sail across to Cebu and studied Bachelor of Science major in Criminology at the University of Cebu. Alone.
A class mate in college, whom she would have to be forced to marry, got her pregnant. Four days after her marriage, her husband left them and would show up again later in her life.
When ladies of less temper would have surrendered to the bad fate, she continued her school while nursing the baby and keeping them eating square meals in economically challenging Cebu.
By December 1, 2010, she was accepted in the police force after passing the board, at that time, her estranged husband showed up to seek favors, but having survived after he abandoned them, she has had enough.
Her first assignment was at the Cebu Provincial Police Office, but desk work bores her that she decided to barge into the world of men in the police force: the Regional Public Safety Battalion.
There she showed what a woman can do in a world dominated by testosterone: become intelligence chief among Alpha ones.
To prove she still has a fight left in her, she jumped into the chance to train into the anti-insurgency police force: the PNP Scouts.
Along with 2000 at the trainings, Arlene was said to be the youngest but was the source of inspiration among women in the training camp.
“I was the youngest but I hand to be the mother taking care of the women who feel too tired to go on,” she beamed.
For that, she said she felt lucky to be among the 264 police officers accepted.
And that plus her precise operational skills endeared her to the elder SWAT: she was often borrowed to infiltrate anti-drug and anti- crime ring operations.
After completing years of meritorious service for Cebu, PO2 Arlene requested for transfer, where the SWAT and RPSB take turns using her skill and intelligence gathering skills in operations, enough to push her to finally officially join the SWAT training in Bohol.
Of the 4 women in the 72 who started training in November, PO2 Manatad flew through the hurdles, grimacing but the pain paid off when she finished among the top ten in a graduating class of 64.
“The training was hard but what was harder was when my father left us and my mother for another woman in 2012,” she bared.
But, if it had to happen, it should, she finally hinted.
Already whetted by the abrasive stones of trails, the acid test of endurance in trainings and the firm resolve to fight it out; nails and teeth, when life hands a dirty deal, living as a woman, mother and a crime-buster for PO2 Arlene Manatad has always been a multi-tasking feat.
“Of course, life is tough, she hints, but with the playing fields now expanding for women to get on the arena, all one needs is to commit to the tasks at hand and never give up,” she advised.
“As women, we should never be afraid to stand for our rights,” she stressed.
We are not alone. We have agencies that are there to help us, she capped.
That statement etched an image in our minds, “fix eyes to the target, breathe, relax, aim and shoot.”
It could have been PO2 Manatad’s unspoken motto.
She is an undisputed sharpshooter, co SWAT graduates proudly told us. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
Fixing the eyes to the crosshairs, breathe, relax, aim, squeeze and shoot. PO2 Arlene Manatad shares what being a woman is in a world brimming with testosterone. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
by admin | Mar 11, 2017 | DTI Updates, Headlines, Kontra Droga, Police Reports
TAGBILARAN CITY, March 9 (PIA)—They are back, and while there are stricter parameters for police participation in the government’s anti drug campaign, they come in with a new tenacity.
Now reinforced with the 64 newly graduated members of the Police and the military’s Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT), the Philippine National Police again rejoins the fray with a resolve: erase the vile left by rogue cops using the drug raids to mask their corruption.
PNP Central Visayas Chief PCSuperintendent Noli Taliño told media that when the police rejoin the anti-drug campaign, those involved would he a team of disciplined and police with a good track service record.
This as the police resume their tasks in the anti illegal drugs campaign with the return of Oplan Double Barrel Alpha Reloaded.
“Unlike then, not all the police in the force can now join the drive,” General Taliño bared during the recent turn-over of the P4.87 million modern police station in Cortes.
Even Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mike Sueño admitted that when the government started the anti drugs drive, they just accepted those who volunteered, without going for a background investigation.
“That is where we allowed the bad elements to contaminate the program, Sueño candidly admitted during a forum with barangay chairmen in Bohol last month.
Determined not to fall into that same trap, the PNP organization firms up the national Drug Enforcement Unit, PCSupt Taliño, upon which his office also draws guidance from the DILG during operations.
The provinces also form their Provincial Drug Enforcement Team (DET), and so would the towns firm up their Municipal DETs, CSupt. Taliño explained further.
Those who constitute the DETs would be going past a rigorous personality check and background information to make sure they are fit and can be trusted, hinted the police chief for Central Visayas.
He said everyone would be placed under investigation, before getting admitted to run the government anti drug drive in their areas.
Even then, these DETS would still need to coordinate their operations with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
The PDEA is the government agency primarily tasked to head the government anti drug campaign.
Drug operations, like then would need a barangay official, a priest, imam, pastor or any leader of a religious sect in the area, as witnesses.
And to get past that, in its efforts to internally cleanse its organization, the regional chief said they did random drug tests to its 8,000 officers and men in the region, including its non-uniformed personnel.
At the random drug tests, 9 tested positive and are now facing summary dismissal proceedings, he told the modest crowd gathered at the turn-over.
“If found to be truly guilty, I am sure they would be dismissed,” he sternly declared.
On their return to rejoin the drug war, he urged his men: Let’s restore the good support given to us, with a good service.”(rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
Double Barrel Alpha Reloaded gets its confirmed resumption when PNP Regional Director PCSupt Noli Taliño announced it in Cortes during the recent turn-over of the new police station. Taliño said they will be back, but it would be via a disciplined team of credible officers passing a rigorous test of honesty and courage. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
by admin | Mar 4, 2017 | Features, Headlines, Kontra Droga, Kontra Terorismo, Local News / Bohol Balita, Police Reports
AFTER THE TRAGEDY that hit the Province of Bohol which left everyone stunned, the Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) is sending the message that Boholanos can now feel safer.
This is because just last Tuesday, sixty-two members of the Philippine National Police and of the Armed Forces of the Philippines gladly participated in the graduation rites as new members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Class “Pinagsanib” group after an exhaustive and rigid two-month special training.
The number started out with sixty-four trainees, but then, of the three women who have initially enlisted, two dropped out which then left a sole woman survivor who eventually graduated with sixty-one men in uniform.
The SWAT graduation ceremonies at the BPPO grounds commenced with a simulation of an actual combat situation where SWAT know-how and special mind tactics were deployed right before the very eyes of the guests.
The adrenaline rush was upped even more when three explosions were witnessed by everyone and the graduating class exhibited more special tactics, not only to please the audience, but more so, to show what would happen to offenders when they cross paths with Bohol’s latest SWAT corps.
Participants and guests were warmly greeted by Bohol PNP Chief Felipe Natividad, with Guest of Honor, PCSupt. Franklin Moises R. Mabanag, Deputy Regional Director for Administration, PRO-7; and Provincial Administrator Alfonso “Ae” R. Damalerio, in lieu of Gov. Edgar M. Chatto.
The Bohol SWAT Team is a composite group of the PNP and AFP, a clear innovation of the 302nd Achievers Brigade, the 47th Infantry Brigade, BPPO, the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), and the Provincial Government of Bohol under the helm of Gov. Edgar M. Chatto.
Provincial Administrator Damalerio proudly informed everyone that “this innovation is the very first in the country, and for the next step, we are now planning on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training.”
EOD performs, supervises, and manages explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operations; and locates, identifies, disarms, neutralizes, recovers, and disposes of hazardous explosives; conventional, chemical, biological, incendiary, and nuclear ordnance; and criminal or terrorist devices.
Other guests during the SWAT graduation ceremonies were Colonel Arnulfo Matanguihan, Commander of the 302nd Brigade of the Philippine Army, LTC Jose Dodjie Belloga Jr., Battalion Commander of the 47th IB of the Philippine Army, Superintendent Renato Dugan of PRO-7 and Tagbilaran City PNP Chief Col. Nicomedes Olaivar. (JLV/PGBh/EDCom)
by admin | Feb 4, 2017 | Headlines, Kontra Droga, Local News / Bohol Balita
TAGBILARAN CITY, February 4, (PIA)—Joint Councils of Bohol Peace and Order (PPOC) and Anti-Drug Abuse (PADAC) approved a resolution en masse, adopting a community based drug rehabilitation program suited for drug users with light to moderate affectation.
At a joint meeting held inside the Conference Hall of the Governor’s Mansion January 31, both councils headed by Governor Edgar Chatto formalized the adoption of the Community Based Drug Rehabilitation Without Walls (CBDRWW).
By the approval, the councils also green lighted the adoption of the program to all towns as the official drug rehab program for all drug users who opt to undergo the process.
CBDRWW is an adoption with minor modifications, of the Talibon Drug Rehabilitation Program without Walls, Argao Drug Rehab center program and best practices, explained the governor.
Then episcopal vicar of Talibon Diocese and among the program implementers since September 2016, now Tagbilaran Bishop Alberto Uy said the program “works on poverty, demands no experts because we have no psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors.”
As the name suggests, the program uses no confinement in a medical or correctional facility for treatment, and rather looks on to the physical, emotional, psychological, economic and spiritual needs of the drug victims end encourages them to stop alcohol, smoking, gambling and most especially the use of illegal drugs, bishop Uy explained.
Envisioned and attuned to the philosophy of human dignity and value, the program delves on the personality of an individual, and his relation to the community in as much as reintegration to the mainstream would demand that the victim needs all the help to work, pray and play along with his family and the community.
A collaborative concept of the local government, the Diocese of Talibon, its inter-faith communities and sectors, the program acknowledges that it will do its share of the drug problem by offering an alternative rehabilitation program to invite more drug dependents who still refused to surrender due to the uncertainty of getting a good rehabilitation program.
In his executive order, creating the technical working group drafting the Talibon Drug Rehab program, Mayor Restituto Auxtero acknowledges the need for a clear drug rehabilitation program to further invite those still refuse to surrender, while entertaining the thought that without a program, those who showed goodwill in surrendering would return to their illegal and harmful trade.
CBDRWW gives new hope for drug surrenderers to be treated from their addiction and renew their lives through worship and prayer, community service, group value formation and spiritual enrichment, through psychosocial counseling and family education, healing of family relations and engaging in livelihood grants, stresses bishop Uy during the meeting.
At the same meeting approving the use of the rehab program, Governor Chatto also called on the national government agencies, non government organizations and interest groups offering livelihood opportunities to help Bohol set up a menu of choices for those who complete the 3 to 5 months rehabilitation program.
The program however, only works for drug surrenderers who voluntarily signify to undergo the program which commits them to follow the policies of the rehabilitation.
In Bohol, authorities implemented the community based Center for Drug Education and Counseling (CDEC) where among the most critical processes include getting drug surrenderers into a World Health Organization approved Alcohol, Smoking, Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) Brief Intervention (BI).
The test determined the level of substance abuse and categorizes drug dependents according to their levels of affectation to determine the levels of intervention, clarifies Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, CDEC executive officer.
Those who are severely affected are referred to a facility based medical treatment and drug rehabilitation center, we do not have the expertise for them, he noted.
Only those who are slightly and moderately affected individuals are eligible to the CBDRWW, Dr. Lopez added.
But, for the drug rehab without walls, authorities stress that it only works for those who are willing to get help, that is voluntary. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
by admin | Feb 1, 2017 | Kontra Droga, Major Events, Malakanyang Updates
MANILA, February 1 (PIA)–Gitun-an na sa Malakanyang ang pagmugna og special task force sa Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) nga motabang sa Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) sa anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Human kini sa direktiba ni Presidente Rodrigo Duterte sa Philippine National Police (PNP) nga ihunong na ang operasyon batok sa ilegal nga droga ug pagtutok sa internal cleansing batok sa mga police scalawags.
Sa pagpanumpa sa mga bag-ong na-promote nga military generals ug flag officers kagahapon sa Malakanyang nga gipangunahan ni Presidente Rodrigo Duterte, gipalutaw niini ang kamahinungdanon sa papel sa militar sa kalamboan sa nasod sa pagseguro sa kalinaw ug seguridad.
Sa maong oath-taking rites sa Malakanyang, gisukot sa Presidente ang mga bag-ong opisyal sa militar sa pagbantay sa kaayohan sa nasod ug sa pagtabang sa pag-implementar sa reporma sa gobyerno.
“As we endeavor to carry out reforms in all government agencies, I wish that you remain to be the kind of officers who put the welfare of the organization, the nation, and its people above your personal considerations,” matud pa ni Duterte.
Gibalik usab sa Presidente ang iyang panawagan sa militar sa pagpabiling loyal sa bandila ug sa konstitusyon.
Una nang miingon ang Presidente nga iya usab tahasan ang mga sundalo aron arestuhon ang mga badlongon nga polis. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
by admin | Feb 1, 2017 | Kontra Droga, Malakanyang Updates, National News
MANILA, February 1 (PIA)–Mi-apelar ang Malakanyang nga angay mosalig sa Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) ug National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) sa ilang anti-illegal drugs operations.
Kini human gipahunong ni Presidente Rodrigo Duterte ang Oplan Tokhang sa mga polis tungod kay nagamit kini sa mga police scalawags.
Matud pa ni Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella, mas maayo nga saligan na lamang ang proseso ug lakang sa PDEA ug NBI.
Samtang plano usab sa Malakanyang nga banhawon ang Philippine Constabulary (PC).
Mismong si Presidente Duterte ang nisugyot sa maong posibilidad sa gipahigayong command conference niadtong niaging semana.
Matud pa ni Abella nga sa pagkakaron, wala pa’y opisyal nga polisiya alang sa maong sugyot sa Presidente.
Apan giseguro ni Abella nga usa kini sa mahimong item sa balaodnong iduso sa administrasyon.
Gipasabot ni Abella nga banhawon ang P.C tungod kay gusto sa Presidente nga magbaton og mas masaligang ahensiya nga ang magpadagan mao ang militar ug dili “civilian in nature” sama sa PNP. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
