20 SWAT men to serve as deterrent in Samar

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar—Keeping the peace in the province of Samar, especially during the 2016 elections, could be a tall order even for highly trained members of the police’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team,  especially if there are just 20 of them for the entire province.

Supt. Joseph Pensotes, Samar police director for administration and operations, admitted that the number of SWAT members in charge of being in the frontline during the elections may not be enough.

The province has two cities, 24 towns and a population of 641,000 based on a 2010 census.

Pensotes, however, said the mere presence of SWAT members “will somehow pose a certain degree of threat to those who will try to sow terror during the conduct of elections.”

The 20 underwent training for 45 days in Camp Lukban, this city.

The Samar police provincial office has a total manpower of 800 policemen. More than 100 had been selected to join the SWAT.

But only 20 passed the training program that included handling of hostage-taking situations, arrests of criminals and target shooting.

Pensotes said SWAT team members would be deployed to areas in Samar where they would be most needed.

Samar has been consistently an election hot spot due to politically related violence and the presence of private armed groups.

According to Pensotes, the 20 newly trained SWAT members would be deployed to areas where their presence would be needed.

Pensotes said while the training of the SWAT team was funded by the provincial government, the provincial police force would not allow policemen to be partisan.

“We are committed to our people to ensure peace in our province,” he said.

Samar Gov. Sharee Ann Tan said she didn’t seek anything in return for helping finance the training of the SWAT members.

“All I want is for (them) to carry out their sworn duty, which is to protect our people. Anything about politics should be the concern of us politicians,” said Tan, who is seeking a third term in 2016.