To Serve and Protect

May 1, 2023

Filipino police council attracts hundreds of members with evangelizing charity

By Roy Lagarde and Columbia staff

May 1, 2023

Members of Philippines Councili 16966 which is composed mainly of active duty police officers. — Dr. Vincent Cavan (foreground), the charter grand knight of Council 16966, is pictured with other council leaders. (Photo by Leo Solinap)

Children watched with wonder as a magician performed at an elementary school for special needs students last November in Anilao, in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. The magic show served as the joyful finale to a free medical and dental clinic for the students organized by Camp Martin Delgado Council 16966 in nearby Iloilo City.

A council-sponsored charitable project such as this is not so unusual, but the council itself is — Council 16966 has nearly 900 members, and 95% of them are active police officers.

Hands-on community projects like the medical clinic have been key to the council’s growth since it was established five years ago amid growing concerns about corruption and violence within the Philippine National Police.

Dr. Vincent Cavan, a lieutenant colonel and physician in the PNP and a Knight since 1992, knew that the Order had much to offer policemen and believed it could play a role in developing ethical law enforcement leaders for the Philippines. As the charter grand knight, he helped to found Council 16966 in 2018 to strengthen young Filipino policemen in their faith and inspire in them a spirit of service to the poor and vulnerable.

“Police officers live by our motto, ‘To serve and to protect.’ Same as the Knights: ‘In service to one, in service to all,’” explained Cavan, 55. “In times of war, pandemic, calamity and in necessity, both police officers and Knights serve their country, church, community and family.”

‘TRANSFORMED FROM WITHIN’

When the Philippine National Police embarked on an “internal cleansing” program in 2019 to rid rogue cops from its ranks, Father Noel Ponsaran and other police chaplains insisted that reforms should not be merely punitive, but also preventive and restorative.

“It is imperative that our PNP personnel be transformed from within with sound moral and spiritual values,” said Father Ponsaran, former head of the chaplain service.

Father Ponsaran thought it was especially important to engage the Catholic Church and Catholic organizations like the Knights of Columbus in the reform effort. More than 70% of PNP personnel are Catholic, he said, yet more than 90% of police chaplains belong to other Christian denominations.

In addition to helping establish the K of C council and serving as its chaplain, Father Ponsaran has encouraged Knights to volunteer in a new PNP program that assigns every squad a trained “life coach” from different community and faith organizations. Several Knights who are retired police officers and active in the Church as lay ministers have gotten involved.

“They are really doing well,” Father Ponsaran said. “I hope that their witness will serve as a model to further promote the Knights of Columbus.”

Meanwhile, Council 16966 has rapidly added Knights to its original 100 members.

Knights from Council 16966 participate in a pro-life demonstration. (Courtesy image)

“At present we have 867 members,” Grand Knight Reynaldo Jalandoni, a retired police lieutenant, said. “By God’s grace, we hope to reach more than 1,000 members soon.”

But council leaders said numbers are not their focus — instead, quality is of the essence. Two things are most important for the council: recruiting good men into the fraternity and developing them, by example, as future leaders.

“We should not just teach them how to cross the bridge, but show them how to cross the bridge,” Cavan said.

Approximately 90% of Council 16966’s members are in their 20s. Jalandoni, 63, affirmed that the Knights’ mission and emphasis on putting faith in action makes the young men better officers.

“Being a Knight brings us closer to God and helps us develop self-awareness to be better public servants,” he said. “As police officers, we are called to serve our country, God, our families and the community, which is further strengthened by being Knights.”

KNOWN BY THEIR WORKS

Leaders of the council attribute its impressive growth to the Knights’ charitable work in the community, which has been their priority from the start.

“As Knights, we are called to help the less fortunate,” Cavan said. “Those who have less in life must have more of our concrete love,” he said.

Soon after it was chartered, the council adopted a public elementary school, where most of the 1,700 students come from impoverished backgrounds. Cavan volunteers as the school physician, providing free medical services and tapping other health agencies for medicines needed by the students. Other council members serve in the Brigada Eskwela, or School Brigade — cleaning, painting and repairing chairs and tables to get the school ready for the academic year. The Knights also donate various goods such as school bags, school supplies, rosaries and water cans.

The council has since adopted two more public schools and sponsors feeding programs and cleanup drives to protect students from diseases such as dengue fever. The council also supports female prisoners in the Iloilo City jail and Asilo de Molo, a home for the aged, most of whom are abandoned and dealing with psychiatric problems.

“We don’t have enough resources, but everybody contributes from at least $2 to $20, so we’re able to provide some needed assistance,” said Immediate Past Grand Knight Onofre Valdellon, who works for the judiciary in the region.

This far-reaching charity, council leaders say, is their most effective recruitment strategy.

“Many joined us perhaps because they have seen the accomplishments of our council,” Cavan said. “Helping the victims of fire and typhoon, the poor, the needy and the sick, prisoners, indigent Indigenous groups, the elderly, and now children with special needs.”

Grand Knight Jalandoni agreed: “The best thing has been publicly showing who we as Knights really are, and what we do for our families and community.”

Valdellon, a former seminarian, acknowledged that he joined the police council to revive his spiritual passion and to help others.

This year, he said, the council plans an outreach activity at a rehabilitation facility for youth offenders.

“We’ve just started,” Valdellon said. “Yet we know that here we have another important mission ahead of us.”

*****

ROY LAGARDE is a staff writer and photojournalist in the media office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and a member of Manila Council 1000.

Adam Parzuchowski, 21, stands at the site where he rescued a man from a burning vehicle in June.

To Serve and Protect

‘TRANSFORMED FROM WITHIN’

KNOWN BY THEIR WORKS

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