RPSB-7 tops Visayas cluster category

CEBU, Philippines -  The Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB)-7 was awarded the best in the Visayas cluster during the Disaster Preparedness and Response Drill competition of the Philippine National Police.

The three RPSB units in the Visayas region parti-cipated in the activity at the Police Regional Office-7 last Thursday and Friday at Tambuli, Lapu-Lapu City.

The RPSB-7 team was composed of ten representatives led by search and rescue response team leader Police Inspector Francis Renz Talosig.

 RPSB-Western Visayas came in second while the RPSB-Eastern Visayas ranked third during the competition.

 Among the categories in the competition were physical fitness, knot-tying, first aid, water rescue and small boat handling.

 Talosig said that aside from the skills and technical know-how, one has to have high level of stamina when responding to disasters.

 He further noted that while training the policemen in terms of disaster response is not a problem since they have many instructors available, RPSB-7 lacks the equipment that are often used during such operations.

 “Halimbawa ang rubber boat na hiniram lang namin. Wala kaming sariling gamit. At least kung kumpleto ang kagamitan, madali kaming makaka-respond,” he said.

 The disaster preparedness and response drill competition is a nationwide activity of the PNP held simultaneously throughout the country.

 The competition will be held in Luzon and the National Capital Region next following the first two legs of the activity already conducted in Mindanao and Visayas.

 RPSB-7 will then be competing with the two best clusters in Luzon and Mindanao on November 7 and 8 in Subic.  (FREEMAN)