QCPD tops anti-riot competition

The anti-riot unit of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) ran away with the trophy and the P30,000 top prize in the 2nd Crowd Dispersal Management (CDM) competition of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila yesterday.

No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Calderon was impressed not only with the CDM unit of the QCPD, but with the four other police districts and the Regional Special Action Unit (RSAU) for their readiness in securing President Arroyo’s 6th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24.

"Gen. Calderon also praised our CDM units in Metro Manila for our peaceful and casualty-free handling of anti-government rallies," Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol said. "He promised us his all-out support."

The NCRPO chief said the QCPD team, which will be the frontliners against rallies during the SONA, won because of their "superb execution of formation in facing protesters."

He added that the winning team was "fastest in terms of consolidation and was always intact."

Querol also admitted that the newly painted shields and equipment of the QCPD anti-riot police made a difference. "Mas maganda tingnan kasi mukhang bago ang gamit nila. They looked more consolidated."

He explained that it was important for the public to see the readiness of the anti-riot policemen.

The Manila Police District (MPD) won the first CDM competition last April, which was held in preparation for the Labor Day rally.

Yesterday’s competition began at 6:30 a.m. with random interviews with members of participating teams to test their familiarity with provisions of the Human Rights Law and Batasang Pambansa 880.

The six anti-riot teams were then given situations, which they must resolve.

"They were given two minutes for decision making and five minutes in solving the problem," said Senior Superintendent Elias Canapi, head of the NCRPO’s Plans and Training.

Canapi said the fresh batch of NCRPO trainees acted as "demonstrators" in the mock riots.

Judges for the event were ranking officials of the Special Action Force (SAF), the elite fighting unit of the PNP. All of them had trained on CDM operations abroad.

Canapi said the CDM units were judged on how quickly they completed the task, the unit’s alertness and the cooperation they displayed.

Canapi said the QCPD received a rating of 93.58 percent.

He said the CDM unit of the Eastern Police District (EPD) posted an aggregate score of 90.62 percent to bag second place while the Northern Police District (NPD) came in third with 88 percent.

Last April’s champion, the MPD, posted a score of 86 percent while RSAU and the Southern Police District (SPD) registered scores of 83.2 percent and 81.46 percent, respectively.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan Jr. received the trophy and the cash prize from Calderon and Querol.

The EPD, represented by Chief Superintendent Charlemagne Alejandrino and the NPD, represented by Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil received P15,000 and P10,000, respectively.

In his speech, Calderon called on the CDM units to exercise utmost maximum tolerance and fully implement BP 880 in dealing with anti-government rallies during the President Arroyo’s SONA.

He also reminded them to observe the rallyists’ human rights. — With Non Alquitran