TACLOBAN CITY – Members of the Special Action Force (SAF) based in Camp Bicutan arrived here yesterday at the Police Regional Office to conduct a one month training of 120 policemen who are members of class 2004 basic recruit graduates in the “special counter-insurgency interrogation” as well as in the “counter-terrorism.”

Police Deputy Regional Director for Administration, Sr. Supt. Teodorico Lapuz IV told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an exclusive interview that this kind of training is first time in the region where the trainors are SAF who have expertise to counter insurgency and terrorism.

Lapuz said PRO-8 will automatically shoulder the incentives that will be given to them like food, allowance and the accommodation.

He added these policemen who will graduate from this special training course will be deployed to the Police Regional Mobile Groups down to the different provincial mobile groups all over the region then they will be detailed to the different municipal police stations.

“They have to work first in the mobile groups, so that they could also share their knowledge in combating insurgency problem and to counter the world’s problem of terrorism, policemen who are detailed in the mobile groups are usually front liners in helping the military in the counter-insurgency campaign,” Lapuz stressed.

This kind of training was decided after the NPA attack in Albuera, Leyte police station last Jan. 6, wherein policemen on duty failed to defend the police station resulting to the seizure of 21 -16 armalite rifles and nine .38 revolver by members of the NPA.

“Napapanahon ito for our policemen to undergo such kind of training...we must do something about this dahil nga lumalakas ang kalaban, the concept of guerilla warfare should be countered immediately,” Lapuz added.

Lapuz also admitted that municipal police stations, aside from being vulnerable from NPA attacks, are easy targets because of the attitude of some policemen not to put up a fight.

“This is what we want to develop...we have lessons like other NPA attacks in some police stations in Samar. Kulang talaga sa training, and we are very thankful because our police director, Chief Supt. Elise Dela Paz, is giving his support to this effort,’ Lapuz said.

It was further admitted by Lapuz that training facilities and knowledge of present trainors at the special training unit based in Camp Ruperto Kangleon is so much behind the new technology in crime prevention to counter terrorism and the insurgency problem, especially that there is an active insurgency in the region.

The Albuera raid, which resulted to seizure of firearms, has prompted PRO-8 to conduct an investigation to find out the extent of liability of the policemen on duty.

“We area talking about this for possible realignment of firearms to effectively provide our personnel in the field something to defend the police stations,” Lapuz said.

Meanwhile, a day after the oath-taking of the 100 police recruits, Joe Patrick Lentejas of Calbayog City yesterday voluntarily quit from the six months rigid training.

He told Express that his body will not be able to undergo such kind of training, and members of the screening board are going to replace him with one from among the 10 applicants who did not pass in the screening committee.