Heightened security measures in the port of Tagbilaran City is now in place with the use of highly trained police dogs known as “K9s” to augment the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and law enforcement personnel manning checkpoints in the busiest port in the province.

This is part of the security measures as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte putting the country in a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence in Mindanao.

Lieutenant Commander Benjie Quinisio, Station Commander of the PCG, Tagbilaran Station told DYRD Balita that port security and increased coast guard visibility off the shores in Bohol are now in place in compliance with Presidential Proclamation (PP) no. 55 issued on September 4, 2016.

PP no. 55 commands the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) among others to “prevent lawless violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere with due regard to fundamental and civil political rights.”

The two Belgian Malinois police dog breeds are trained to detect odors and locate explosives, improvised explosive devices (IED’s) similar to explosives used in the Davao City bombing and narcotics.

A passenger assistance centers manned by the PCG has been established in the port terminal to adequately responds to passenger needs during emergencies.

Fourteen people lost their lives and more than sixty were injured when a bomb blew up at around 10PM in the crowded Roxas night market in Roxas Avenue, Davao City near the Ateneo de Davao University on Saturday, September 2, 2016. (Chito M. Visarra and Rey Tutas)