MANILA — Twenty-two officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have completed training with the United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
In a statement Tuesday, the US Embassy in Manila said the group, composed of nine male officers and 13 female officers, trained from Jan. 16 to Feb. 2 at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) with HSI instructors in Brunswick,Georgia on entry and defensive tactics, investigative techniques, interviews and interrogations, evidence collection, surveillance, and undercover operations.
HSI is the investigative arm of the US Department of Homeland Security and investigates cross-border criminal activity.
“TCIU Philippines will first focus on those who travel to the Philippines to exploit children,” explained Ransom Avilla, HSI Attaché of the US Embassy in Manila.
“The TCIU officers came from different fields of expertise within the PNP and grew as one during this training. Together, the TCIU will fight crime to give justice to victims of abuse,” PNP Team Leader Major Jeorge Francis Rodrin added.
Bato: Local trainings to continue
For his part, Philippine National Police Dir. Gen. Ronald dela Rosa said friendly competitions between tactical response and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) units to showcase their skill similar to the one held in Davao last week would be repeated soon.
The PNP chief said this move seeks to come up with a professional and highly skilled police force which is included in President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s agenda.
“Yun naman ang dream ni Presidente (That is the President’s dream), to build a strong army and a strong police force. Yan ang pangarap niya kaya kami naman sa PNP at AFP (This is his vision so we at the PNP and AFP), we are recipient to the ambition of the (former) mayor, nakatatanggap kami ng mga magagandang gamit (we receive good equipment),” dela Rosa said in a press briefing.
“So sabi niya (President Duterte) train pa natin ng train (So he said we should continue training). So ‘yung national SWAT challenge na ginanap last week sa Davao, maybe maulit na naman yun maybe after six months. Ulitin natin para continuous ‘yung upgrading at tsakaimprovement ng capability ng ating mga tactical units, (So the national SWAT challenge that was held last week in Davao, there will be another edition maybe after six months. We will do it again so that there will be continuous upgrading and improvement of the capability of our tactical units),” dela Rosa said.
The police chief added that new equipment is arriving soon for the PNP including from suppliers in Israel. (Benjamin Pulta/PNA)
