Director General Avelino Razon Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Friday activated the Bohol Tourist Police Unit (BTPU) and opened the training of the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team in rites held at the Community Police Action Center (Compac) in Brgy. Bolod of the tourist town of Panglao.
Gov. Erico Aumentado invited Razon to the twin ceremony, especially after the latter committed P580,000 in the form of training and equippage to the Bohol Swat Team. Razon's Bohol visit is among his last official acts as he is set to relinquish the command in rites to be officiated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo slated on Oct. 3.
In his message, Razon said establishing the tourist police in Bohol is a good decision because the province has lots to offer. He said he has gone as far as Bali (Indonesia), Casablanca and Maraquez in Morocco but these pale in comparison to the diverse attractions of Bohol.
As such, tourists troop to Bohol, and it is but fitting and proper to train the police to secure the lives and property of local and foreign tourists alike – on top of their regular duties, he emphasized.
However, he sees Bohol as still "too shy" in the promotion of its attractions, among them the dive sites, beaches, rivers and the tarsier – rattling off the other tourism towns where tourist police action centers will also be set up.
With aggressive promotion, even more tourists will come, hence, Bohol's police must be world class – not do mere backwoods policing – and come up to the tourists' standards and expectations, he said.
On the other hand, on top of their regular training, the additional training on special police operations make the Swat team members perform better. Their enhanced tactical capabilities can transform them into a formidable unit in answering "police situations."
The special training gives the Swat team the tactical edge in the performance of their duties, he said.
He also encouraged Chief Supt. Ronald Roderos, Region 7 director, to include foreign languages in their future trainings. Even simple greetings said in a tourist's native tongue can already generate lots of goodwill, he said.
Tourist police and Swat teams are also trained in basic life support, search and rescue operations, among others.
For his part, Aumentado expressed elation over the training, saying that better performance of the police go a long way in building confidence among visitors and investors alike.
He said the police have also been a strong force and one of the key factors in the jump of Bohol from Club 20 – the country's 20 poorest provinces – to its 52nd position among 80 provinces today, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
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