Bohol tourist police seek LGU’s help

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines – Bohol Tourist Police Unit (BTPU), the first ever created in Central Visayas, cried for assistance and called for the local government units concerned to pitch support for their upkeep and sustenance.

Inspector Jojit Silay Mananquil, acting chief of the BTPU, disclosed this dire situation during the Talakayan Sa Isyung Pulis (TSIP), a monthly press conference with the local media here and organized by Sr. Supt. Constantino Barot Jr. with the PIA headed by Rey Anthony Chiu.

Mananquil pointed out that the BTPU is wanting for its daily basic operational needs, and hoped that the LGUs would acknowledge the unit’s value in the maintenance of peace and order.

The BTPU lacks special training or special skills especially in scuba diving and swimming necessary in saving the lives of tourists. The unit had undergone training in First Aid Treatment and Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), but these may not be enough, said Mananquil.

The BTPU also sought assistance or provision for the boarding needs of its members in places of their assignments because they have now “insufficient barracks or quarters,” he said, adding that it would have been better if the money they spent for rent “would have been sent instead to their loved ones.”

Despite these shortcomings, the BTPU with 98 men detailed into 15 units in different tourist spots in Bohol is determined and continues to carry out on its mission, Mananquil said.

Bohol is the first province to establish and institutionalized tourist police force some four or five years back considering that Bohol is one of the top tourist destinations in the country today, he said. (FREEMAN)