After 37 years in service to the Philippine National Police, M/Gen. Oliver Alilis Enmodias of Barlig, Mountain Province was given retirement honors by the Police Regional Office-Cordillera on Nov. 9 at the Camp Bado Dangwa, La Trinidad, Benguet.
Enmodias, of the Philippine Military Academy Bigkis-lahi Class of 1990, is considered the highest-ranking police officer of Barlig, Mountain Province after retiring as a two-star general.
He encouraged his fellow i-Barligs to continue stepping out of their comfort zones and to join the police service, following in his footsteps.
“I hope that they will be able to break my record because that is the most important. Right now, a lot of people not only from Barlig but also from the Cordillera as well are topping the Philippine National Police Academy and the PMA,” Enmodias said.
He said most Cordillerans are known to be timid and shy but are currently excelling in the PMA and PNPA, even those who graduated from the remote public schools.
During his speech, he reminisced the time he underwent rigorous process to enter PMA at 17 years of age, through the encouragement of his older brother.
He passed all other requirements but only to be disheartened because he was inches short of the required height to enter the academy.
At the time, the height waiver, especially for those belonging to the indigenous peoples group, was not yet implemented.
He said he thought of going back to study engineering in case it didn’t work out.
That period, the late Mountain Pro-vince Rep. Victor Dominguez made a privilege speech to Congress regarding the plight of young IPs who wanted to serve in the police and military, but were discouraged due to their height.
Enmodias said after retirement, he plans to spend time with his family, something he wasn’t able to do for long periods when he was in service.
“It’s been a long time since I served in areas far from home and many times, especially during red alert, we cannot leave our posts even if it’s our birthday. So, now at least I get to be with my family,” he said.
He served as director of the Mountain Province Police Provincial Office, the head of Records Management Division, former deputy regional director for operations of PRO-12, executive officer of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations Northern Luzon; director of the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group, deputy commander of the Area Police Command Northern Luzon, and director for Research and Development before his retirement. – Ofelia C. Empian
