Crocodylus Porosus Philippines Inc. (CPPI) has teamed up with the Wilderness Search and Rescue Philippines (WISAR PH) to hold wilderness and survival training for the Palaweño responders involved in crocodile search and rescue operations.
The training, being held at the Palawan Sustainable Development Training Institute (PSDTI) on November 18–27, has participants coming from volunteers and other organizations in Palawan, such as the provincial office for the DENR, the provincial disaster risk and reduction management office, and uniformed personnel.
The CPPI hosted the second Crocodile Conservation and Rescue Operations Training with the aim of equipping volunteers with the skills needed to conduct search and rescue operations.
Marvin Jay Sarmiento, chairman of the board of directors for WISAR PH and wildlife biologist for the CPPI, said that they partnered up with WISAR to train the volunteers after a previous experience with a retrieval operation in Southern Palawan with the provincial Wilderness Quick Response Team (PWQRT), with the first batch who were trained in the first iteration of the program in 2019.
“We had this situation na nagkaroon kami ng response sa isang crocodile attack at yung mga tao ay confused, kasi pagdating doon sa site yung na-train na first responders is to search kung saan yung mga crocodiles. Then suddenly, yung mga victim nung crocodile attack na non-fatal naman, na buhay pa nagtanong, ‘Anong gagawin niyo sa sugat ko?’” Sarmiento said.
The 10-day program consisted of what Sarmiento called the human and scientific components of rescue operations, emphasizing that they wanted the trainees to follow the national protocol for crocodile attacks.
The Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) provided financial support to tackle human-crocodile conflict (HCC) in the southern part of Palawan.
The training includes basic land navigation, search and rescue operations, and the incident command system (ICS). The WISAR also provided doctors and nurses—also WISAR volunteers—who gave medical lectures, snakebite first aid courses, trauma wound responses, and also patient and wound care in outdoor settings.
The WISAR Philippines Governor, Glenn Mark Lanozo, stated that their objective is to develop the trainees’ skills in a way that turns the “human-crocodile conflict” into “human-crocodile coexistence”.
“Kami po ay trained para maging self-sustained. Kapag dinideploy kami sa disaster-stricken area di niyo na kami po-problemahin para pakainin, hanapan ng matutulugan, transient, hotel, or everything. Hindi niyo na kami iisipin kasi nasa bag na po naming lahat,” Lanozo said.
The first day of the program saw the trainees doing an adversity trek, starting all the way from Sta. Lourdes new city cemetery to the PSDTI in Brgy. Irawan, an 18.8 km distance on foot. Lanozo emphasized that, though WISAR accepts volunteers from all walks of life, they have to be physically fit in order to do rescue operations.
For 10 days, they will be stationed in the PSDTI, where the trainees will camp, eat, and sleep on hammocks and live outdoors as part of WISAR’s wilderness survival training.
The concept for the WISAR operative, Lanozo explained, came from their founder, Dr. Ted Esguerra, who aimed for the strength of a mountaineer and the medical knowledge of a medical professional.
Lanozo explained that the WISAR operative would typically have a go bag full of three days’ worth of supplies of food, shelter, clothing, water, water purification tablets, and extra cordage.
“Ginagamit namin iyan for technical rescue, water rescue, and mga tracking and orienteering, pero of course yung pinakamahalaga yung survival skills. Improvisation—that’s our bread and butter. With or without those tools, we can operate because we know how to improvise, hindi kami tool or equipment dependent,” Lanozo said, adding that they were set to teach the trainees rappelling as well.
Although WISAR does not yet have a Palawan branch, they will have WISAR-trained operatives available once the trainees finish their program, something that CPPI had anticipated Palawan would need after their population survey revealed higher numbers of crocodiles across different species this year than before the pandemic.
Sarmiento said that Palawan has the highest record of crocodile attacks nationwide.
“Dito kasi sa Palawan ang pinaka-largest base ng demographic nung crocodile attacks. Pangalawa po diyan yung Tawi-tawi. We started crafting this way back in October 2021. Kung naabutan niyo yung flash flood sa Batang-Batang river, ako yung nakakuha ng bangkay that time,” Sarmiento said.
“Wala masyadong training sa ICS at that time. We were searching the body pero mayroong record kasi ng crocodile doon sa ilog, so people from different agencies na gusto nang mag search and retrieval ang gawin were not aware of the presence of the crocodile although since flood naman, wala kaming nadaanang crocodile.”
He recalled being surprised at the empathy of Palaweños during the disaster, with the children helping the volunteers dig up mud and soil, as their friend was one of the missing.
However, Sarmiento recalled that he had to stop their search operations on the river that day after he spoke with the barangay captain, who confirmed that not everybody in the barangay was accounted for due to the threat of the river flooding again.
“Kasi kung nagflash flood yun, eh di mas maraming namatay. We gathered around kasama nung PDRRMO ng Narra, nag-organize kami ng small ICS where we evaluated and accounted for every rescue organization and every able-bodied person at the time,” Sarmiento said, noting that they only found two bodies out of the missing number.
The incident had a direct impact on the program, which expanded from a 3-day training under the CPPI to a full 10-day course with the addition of the WISAR.
Sarmiento noted that crocodile attacks were also considered a medical issue in Palawan since it required trauma patient assessment as well. The crocodile restraining and snare-trap building activity, which CPPI Program Director Rainier Manalo was to teach to the WISAR trainees and current operatives, was the most important activity for the program, as Sarmiento noted.
This is in collaboration with the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center (PWRCC), the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), and the City Government of Puerto Princesa for the training venue, along with the PDRRMO for the standby ambulance.
“Actually, hindi lang trainee ang tuturuan, pati si WISAR part ng agreement diyan, on how to restrain the breeder-sized crocodiles. Pinaka-crucial ito kasi buwaya yan eh, the most powerful reptile sa animal kingdom, kaya po sila dinedeprive sa tulog, sa pagkain kasi despite those adversities dapat malinaw silang mag-isip when it comes to dealing with chaos and a crisis,” said Sarmiento.
“Stability under pressure is crucial yung paghandle ng crocodiles kasi despite sa lahat ng pagod mo, tapos di ka makapagisip agad in a split second, kakagatin ka o napitikan na ng buwaya. Tinitrain naming yung bawat individual diyan na kahit pagod, gutom, o kulang sa tulog that they can think quickly.”
