Despite having little background of being a unit commander, Police Colonel Davy Vicente Limmong has channeled his dedication to serve the public and held on to his faith in successfully leading almost a thousand police force in Kalinga for one year and eight months.
Police Colonel Limmong assumed post as the Kalinga Police Provincial Director (PD) on May 1, 2020, 28 years since the time he was first assigned to the province for insurgency operations.
In an interview with Guru Press, he recalled there was a doubt about his capability to serve as the police director since he didn’t have any background in commanding a unit as he only held designations as team leader and division chief.
But after two months of being the officer-in-charge of the Kalinga Police Provincial Office (KPPO), he was chosen by Governor Ferdinand Tubban to be the provincial director among the lists of other colonels qualified to get the designation.
“Daily, I pray. Prayer gives me strength, confidence. As I said, I do not have a background in being a commander, but I was still able to lead them [Kalinga police],” he said.
Highlights of accomplishments under Limmong’s command
In 2020, the crime volume in Kalinga dropped. Limmong attributed this to the Covid-19 threat that restricted the movement of the people. Nevertheless, the Police Director was on top of the measures and operations implemented during that year. In 2021, even with a more relaxed movement, crime incidents continued to decline by 15.55%. There were 239 cases recorded crimes compared to the 283 logged in 2020.
For the campaign against illegal drugs, KPPO implemented 132 positive operations in 2021, which is higher than the 103 implemented in 2020.
Of these operations in 2021, the number of illegal drugs seized in Kalinga tripled with a value of P1,280,426,283.00 compared to the P440,802,514.592 confiscated in 2020.
Other operational accomplishments of KPPO under Limmong’s leadership were sustained and increased in 2021, with 216 arrests of wanted people, 111 seized loose firearms, 21 arrests related to illegal gambling, and 27 on illegal logging.
During his more than a year stint as the Police Provincial Director, Limmong was recognized as Best Senior Police Commissioned Officer for Operations in the region last August 16, 2021.
Among KPPO’s operational and other significant achievements under his leadership, Limmong considers as his greatest accomplishment as the PD of KPPO is the life and safety of the police personnel of Kalinga.
For almost two years that the Kalinga police were under him, he didn’t lose any of his personnel to police operations and the threat of the Covid-19.
“I consider that as my greatest accomplishment, not the accomplishment of many arrests or many drug operations, it’s more on the life and safety [of the personnel that matters],” he said.
Journey to being a police
Limmong, the 3rd child among 10 kids of a teacher and a farmer in Banaue, Ifugao, never thought of entering the police service. Since they could not afford to sustain his studies, Limmong had his mind conditioned to take a vocational course after high school.
But with the help of his aunt, he was able to enroll as an engineering student at Saint Louis University in Baguio. However, just before he could finish the first semester, his aunt’s business got bankrupt.
With this, he had to work for his studies, and he had to shift course due to lack of resources. This is why he went to study with his cousin at the University of Baguio and enrolled in criminology.
While getting his degree in Criminology, Limmong took many jobs such as security guard and collector of a financing institution.
“I am used to it already. Since high school, I was already a working student. I worked in a department store in our town. During the daytime, I served at the department store, and at nighttime, I served as a guard,” Limmong narrated.
After graduation, Limmong was able to enter the police service as a patrolman, with only P1,000 as his monthly salary. His first assignment was on anti-insurgency and criminality operations, which he recalled being the most challenging part of his years of service, as in those times, he had to fight for survival every day.
Then, years after, he became an investigator at Baguio City Police Office.
Due to hard work, from PO2, he successfully jumped to Inspector, which is now the rank of a police lieutenant with the new PNP rank classification in 1997.
From this, Limmong focused on forensic investigation wherein he was qualified to be sent to serve in countries like Kosovo and Sudan.
Limmong also served at the national headquarters, training center, then at the Police Regional Office- Cordillera.
Message to the Kalinga police and police aspirants
As Limmong turns over the command to a new police provincial director this week, he challenges the uniformed men and women of Kalinga to sustain the peace and order situation in the province as there is no reason they couldn’t, since most of them are from here and they are familiar with the practice and culture of Kalinga.
“When you retire, it [peace and order] should be much better. So if you retire and it is worse, it could be shameful on your part that you retired in the service serving Kalinga,” he said.
For his advice to those who are aspiring to join the police force, Limmong emphasized taking trainings seriously and to give their best in their duty to serve and protect the public.
While serving the people, Limmong also reminds police aspirants to learn how to balance their family life.
“If you fail at home, you fail your life. You may be achieving a lot in your career, but if you fail at home, you’re a failure,” he said.
After serving as the Kalinga Police Provincial Director for 1 year and 8 months, Limmong will be going back to the Police Regional Office- Cordillera.
According to him, he will be retiring from police service in October 2023 and by then, he wants to live a simple life in the province with his wife, Mrs. Elsie Limmong, and their 5 children.
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