To augment the preparations for the Manila and Tacloban visits of Pope Francis, the Philippine National Police Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies (PNP-SOSIA) conducted an evaluation of canine units to determine their capability in identifying explosives.
Held at a downtown hotel and at the Cebu Business Park, the tests showed that eight canines from two private security agencies are ready to be deployed not just for the papal visit but also for next year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
Senior Supt. Dominador Tubon, chief of the Security Canine Management Division (SCMD) of the PNP- SOSIA, said the dogs underwent tests on vehicle search, room search, baggage search and open area search.
“The evaluation test is to determine the efficiency and reliability of the dogs so that we can be assured of their deployment in the malls and other establishment in detection of bombs and explosives, so that maiwasan na natin yong tinatawag na false sense of security,” said Tubon.
The evaluation is important not just for major events but also for public safety.
“Akala ng mga mall goers at shoppers, dahil may K-9 dun ay secured na sila only to find out na props lang pala iyon. Kaya namin ginagawa to para masigurado na talagang reliable at efficient iyang mga aso na dine-deploy, for the benefit na rin ng ating mga kliyente na binabayaran sila ng mahal tapos ganun pala, hindi effective,” Tubon said.