Police audit team to evaluate Metro Manila's tactical units

MANILA, Philippines - National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leocadio Santiago deployed yesterday an audit team to assess and evaluate all tactical units, including the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), in Metro Manila to determine their skills and check their weaponry to prevent another hostage drama debacle.

“The audit team will look into the organizational set up of tactical or SWAT units, their existing personnel and their individual skills, trainings conducted, the unit capabilities, and equipage,” said Santiago.

According to Santiago, the team will visit the District Public Safety Batallion of the five police districts, the SWAT and the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) units of the different cities and municipalities.

The audit team will also look at the needs of the various tactical units and make a study on the inter-operability among tactical units as part of Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa’s guidance after the bungled hostage taking incident at the Quirino Grandstand on Aug. 23.

Santiago is hopeful that the results of the audit team’s assessment and evaluation will pave the way for the enhancement of the tactical units’ capabilities and equipment to better perform and resolve crisis that may arise in the future.

The deployment of the audit team is part of the overall plan of Santiago for all tactical and SWAT units in Metro Manila to have uniformed skills and weaponry for the efficient handling of hostage situation in the future.

The NCRPO chief said that the combat skills and types of weaponry of SWAT units in Metro Manila should be at par with that of the Special Action Force (SAF), the fighting unit of the PNP.

“We envisioned our SWAT units in Metro Manila having standard fighting skills and equipment, so that when an emergency situation arises in a certain area all of them can respond and also they can borrow equipment from each other,” said Santiago.

Santiago issued his reaction after a week-long Critical Incident Management Field Training Exercise for SWAT units in Camp Bagong Diwa recently which showed that the operatives lack equipment like Kevlar helmets, gas mask, bullet-proof vests, and breaching apparatus. He ordered SWAT units to undergo the assessment and seminar following the bungling of the hostage drama on Aug. 23, which left eight Hong Kong tourists and hostage taker Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza dead.

According to Santiago, he is now awaiting the official report of ranking police officials based in Camp Crame on the evaluation of the SWAT units training exercises.

The evaluation report would guide Santiago and his five district directors on what to improve further in the capabilities and weaponry of the SWAT units in the district level.