Special Action Force and talking Fairtrade with an organic co-operative

I had a great visit to The Philippine Police Special Action Force. On arrival I was greeted by some of the top officers of the SAF dressed in green army style uniforms. I was taken into the conference room and sat facing the officers across the conference table. A video was played showing hostage situations, officers on an assault course, speeding along in boats etc like they were our SAS.

                                                                       

Outside a tank as lined up and officers in combat gear and another section in riot gear stood to attention. I was invited to inspect them and each shouted out his name, rank and equipment he carried to perform his duties. I was then invited to the firing range to try out some of their weapons. I tried out a UMB assault rifle and hit the target dead centre several times. The officer instructor seemed very pleased with my performance. I have never used a weapon like this before or indeed any type of gun and I don’t advocate the use of guns in general. It was an interesting experience to see the guns used by this Special Action Force however because as we all know, Police forces around the world unfortunately have to deal with hostage situations and be trained properly to deal with such circumstances.

 Later in the day I was in the more relaxed setting of an organic farm and had a very nice lunch of all kinds of organic produce from a farming Co-operative. As a Co-operative Councillor, I am always pleased to see people working together for the good of their community via Co-operatives. A few days before departing for this trip, Bolton Council celebrated its 10^th anniversary of being a Fair Trade town and I have been promoting Fair Trade wherever the opportunity has arisen. At this organic Co-operative interest was shown by the Chairman of the Co-operative in becoming Fair Trade recognised and I will facilitate putting people in touch with each other. The Philippines has many Banana, Pineapple, Mango and Coffee producers however few are Fair Trade recognised despite being Co-operatives. I hope more can be done in this respect and some funding help for Co-operatives if possible.

A visit was organised to Eastwood Police Station which is within Quezon City. The Police Major in charge of the station duly toured us around the various sections and the Police officers were very pleased to see us. It was interesting to see that they had a women’s and children’s desk and a dedicated officer for any abuse experienced by either or both women and children.