MANILA, Philippines—Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome of the Philippine National Police (PNP) wants to tap some 100,000 criminology students nationwide to form a “Police Reserve Unit” that will provide quick response in emergencies.
The PNP chief said he instructed the Directorate for Plans and Directorate for Operation to study the feasibility of establishing a reserve squad composed of volunteers from universities all over the country.
The police reserves, he said in a statement, “will serve as source of manpower that will help provide quick response during disasters and calamities.”
PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the new unit would resemble the military’s Reserve Officers Training Corps, which was later replaced by the National Service Training Program, a mandatory program among college students.