Manila, November 21, 2019 –– As part of ongoing U.S.-Philippine cooperation on underwater crime scene investigation (UCSI), participants from the Philippine National Police – Maritime Group (PNP-MG), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) conducted an instructor development course in Batangas from November 4 to 13.
This event consisted of eight instructor candidates providing UCSI training to 18 students while being mentored by Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department (POSDHPD) divers who had previously trained these instructor candidates in 2018. Since 2016, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) has partnered with POSDHPD to develop UCSI capability among Philippine agencies through a series of events, from curriculum development and skills training to this event, focused on validating the readiness of Philippine instructors to conduct future courses.
PNP-MG hosted and coordinated the training. During the completion ceremony, the Director of PNP-MG Police Brigadier General R’win Pagkalinawan provided keynote remarks and presented certificates to the instructor and student participants.