BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Office of civil Defense (OCD-CAR) revealed the recent conduct of K9 trainings would contribute in improving the search, rescue and retrival capabilities of rescue groups and local governments in the search for missing individuals that are victims of natural and man-made calamities.
K9 dogs can search for missing human beings. They sniff out explosives and other illegal drugs. They can also apprehend fleeing criminals. They are considered as man’s best friends. Dogs that are trained to perform these duties are called as the Police Dogs or the K9s.
Recently, a Cordillera K9 Search and Rescue Training was held at the grounds of the Philippine Air Force – Tactical Operations Group 1 (PAF-TOG1), Loakan Airport wherein dogs were trained in case necessary for a Search, Rescue and Retrieval Operations.
The training was spearheaded by the PAF-TOG1 under the leadership of its Group Commander Col. Dennis Estrella with the support of the OCD-CAR headed by Regional Director Andrew Alex Uy. The training is being participated by the personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Military Academy (PMA), Philippine Air Force (PAF), and private dog enthusiasts.
The K9 SAR Training’s objective is to train dogs so that it will serve as an additional capability in the efforts of Search Rescue and Retrieval Operations in the Cordillera Region; aiming to reinforce the SRR Cluster of the Regional Disaster Response Plan.
Recalling the landslide incident at Sitio Elizabeth, Barangay Taneg, Mankayan, Benguet during the onslaught of Typhoon Ineng, trained K9 dogs with their handlers from PAF-TOG1 were deployed to help retrieve the missing small-scale miners who were buried in the said area. The presence of the K9 dogs was of great help to accelerate the operations. Thus the training will refine the capacity of the Cordillera Disaster Response Plan.
PO2 Frances Facunla, one of the trainers said, “The K9 dogs, with the help of their handlers, will undergo several types of exercises such as room searching, sniffing and playing toy examinations to test their capabilities in search and rescue operations. The service of these dogs will at least last for eight years.”
TSG Joselito Boaquina, Cordillera K9 trainer added, “There are two types of K9 drill that these dogs will undergo: obedience dog training and aggressive dog training. The dogs are expected to execute well in all various situations such as searching for drugs and explosives, tracking missing individuals, finding a suspect or crime evidences and securing the protection of their handler.”
The purpose of the training were to observe consistency in the conduct of the activity – planning to execute Cordillera K9 SAR Training annually.