The Philippine National Police (PNP) has been a partner of the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) since 2008 in the promotion of Human Rights, respect for the Rule of Law, and police training in general, as well as related exchange study programs. As part of its partnership, the HSF in cooperation with the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior (Bayerisches Innenministerium) and Second Stand-by Police Academy in Eichstätt (II. Bereitschaftspolizei-Abteilung), Bavaria/Germany, invited senior police officers to study-visits to Germany to confer and exchange experiences with their counterparts in various aspects of police training and further training, human rights, community policing and public safety administration.

This is the first time that a team, with three members from the PNP’s Training Service and the fourth heading the Human Rights Office (HRO) of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), has been sent for a six-week training period to the Second Stand-by Police Academy in Eichstätt (II. Bereitschaftspolizei-Abteilung) with the objective of obtaining strategic knowledge and be exposed to Bavarian police training and further training philosophy, structure, recruitment, field training, and the full implementation of situational police operational procedures from reporting to the processing of a case. As part of the team's first two-week stay in the Academy, which covered introduction/orientation activities and observing police recruits’ training, the PNP officers were also invited to Nuremberg to witness the oath-taking of 1,350 new police cadets from the various training units in the whole of Bavaria where they were also able to meet with the Bavarian State Minister of the Interior (Bayerisches Innenministerium) and a member of the HSF Board, Mr. Joachim Herrmann, and Bavarian Police President, Mr. Waldemar Kindler.

The program developed by the Second Stand-by Police Academy will have the group exposed to various police training activities relative to the fundamentals and tactics of police operations, with the recruits being deployed to police stations with a training officer assigned to them as part of their field training. “The recruits have to be in the field to learn all the intricacies of policing, which could be enhanced with their training officer around,” says II. BPA Police Director Hubert Müller. Upon their return to the Philippines, the PNP officers will be expected to assist the PNP Training Service and contribute to the development and design of police training programs.

For the duration of the visit which started mid-June and will last through the end of July, the PNP delegation will be accompanied by a dedicated set of specialists to explain, describe and answer questions that any member may have for each of the training activities to be observed. “We are learning a lot in this regard ... (the) officers provided interesting information that we may also share with the PNP as soon as we get back,” said Police Senior Superintendent Ildebrandi Usana who heads the delegation. “It is quite impressive watching the cadets learn through role plays,” he added.

The other members of the delegation are Police Superintendent Datumama Mantawil Mokalid, Police Chief Inspector Alex Meimban Apolonio and Police Chief Inspector Wilfred Cruz Cervantes.