Hangin' with the Police!

Saturday Aug 9

We arrange for a van to take everyone to the Philippine National Police Academy for a some target shooting, lunch and a tour of the facility.  The Police team (Luciana, Ioana and Martin) and the force have been trying to arrange to have a get together outside of the work day so this Saturday is it.  Most of the members of the force including the police chief Pergentino Malabed (Preferred name: Bong)
are graduates of the academy and proud to show us the place.

Academy Motto - Justice, Integrity, Service

As expected it begins with training to show people how to safely handle and fire a weapon; most of us have rarely, if ever used guns need the guidance for sure and it is a fun day to try. We shoot at targets about 20 feet away and some of us do OK. I am not a top dog but get the white part of the target quite a few times.  Becky hits the bullseye on her first shot but it was all down hill from there!  James, Martin and Carina seem quite good.  Brian knows his way around so his good performance was expected.We try longer distances and the performance of course goes down.  Bong tells us we need to have both eyes open on the sights to properly focus, but it just makes me see 2 targets.  Had to close one eye to see.

Luciana and the Police Team. Chief Bong to her left.

The grounds are beautiful and there are cadets everywhere taking various lessons, whether shooting, combat or just exercises.  Someone expresses seeing a demo from the instructor with the stick combat. The instructor shows us some sweet moves as he asks several of us to try and hit him....easily disarming and show how easy he could be in a position to make you surrender. That does not stop Brian from trying

Brian gets a lesson!

After that and before we get the complete tour of the grounds we are treated to a prepared lunch by the police.  It is served communal style on top of banana leaves and laid out over a picnic table.
A layer of rice, noodles, vegetables and pork adobo, adorned by tomatoes and salted eggs around the edges.  We stand around the table and start to eat with our hands; this is the 2nd time we have doen this(the other time was at the river)so it truly must be Filipino style!

Now that.....is a feast

One of the commanders, is our host for lunch. His name is Marjoe Bongngat and he has a very confident air about him as he tells us more about the facility over lunch.  He is still a young man but was already a Police Chief of Mindinao in the southern Philippines so he has a lot of experience. He tells us also that we are not to leave any food uneaten; there are about 15 of us eating and there is easily food for 25! That is not a problem for long.  He calls over some female cadets who were marching and requests for them to join us for lunch to help finish!

The cadets lending a helping hand

The girls are going in to their 2nd year and are lean and whipsmart.  It is a disciplined life they have chosen. We of course get pictures taken and ask to join them as they finish their march back to their quarters. They sing as they march with the girl in the rear(possibly chosen for her singing ability) singing the main and the rest responding to the chorus.  "I've been working on the Railroad all the live long day"  and "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah" I can't remember all of the other songs but we heard 4-5 of them on the way.

Workin' on The railroad

We are then shown the living quarters of a team of the male cadets. There are about 30 of them living in open quarters. It is a 4 year program which is a very significant commitment to be a police officer. Everything is neat and tidy and the cadets are subject to inspections on a regular basis. It is about order and commitment and you have to want it! (cell phones and gadgets for cadets are banned!).
I think about how hot it must be to live in these barracks with no air conditioning all year since the weather is about 33-34 degrees today! We finish up with a tour of the mess and the lounge before heading over to get some police souvenirs(T-Shirts, caps and mugs).  It was a unique and memorable day with many thanks to the Police Force and Officer Bongngat for hosting!

Officer Marjoe shows us the "Mess"

The barracks is "ship shape"

As mentioned it was a hot day even for Filipino standards so someone asks the question..."don't we have access to a pool near the hotel?"  we had never even thought to go there and 7-8 of us head over for a dip to cool off. It is a huge pool in the community just down the road and less then a 15 minute walk.  We have been so busy we had never even thought to avail ourselves. We regretted not having used it before! 100 Pesos gets you access (about $2.25 ) Capital idea!

Sunday is going to be the first and only unplanned day since we have arrived 21 days ago. Before then we have arranged a night of karaoke at a place down the road. We book a big room and have a great night out.  It was mentioned before we got there to know a song and everyone participates ... it is almost like initiation and a great team building exercise.  The highlight is Sridhar's rendition of Olivia Newton-John's "Let's Get Physical"....truly memorable!

After the karaoke, a down day will be needed!

 #ibmcsc philippines