011 ~ Global Pulisya Christmases

SPECIAL RELEASE

The PNP Contingent’s first overseas celebration of that time of year was in the former Indochina, in 1992. It was in a festive mood, passing the occasion with comrades from the Philippine Marines.

Its first differently spent Christmastide was in the Balkans, in 1999, under temperate-climate conditions that seemed ruthless for sons of the tropics, nearly two dozens of them. Kosovo’s power infrastructure had been razed by the ethnic wars and the succeeding bombardment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Operation Joint Guardian.

For the Filipino police, that translated to no electricity for heaters so they had to stock up on wood in their accommodations for burning throughout the long nights of winter. That also meant having to take turns in dozing off, so there would be somebody to tend the fire.

Mornings at work, the Filipino police layered their garments to trap warm air, and shield them from the subzero temperature. They made sure to keep themselves breathing and kicking as they performed the full law enforcement functions required of the UN’s pilot executive mission. The duties included perfecting their winter-driving skills, including the utilization of traction devices against slippery roads toward patrol and community assistance sorties. Brr!

It was in 2003 when the Filipino police first spent the Holidays in the desert, having been flown into the Middle East as a humanitarian contribution to the people of Iraq. The spell was a lot less frigid, but it was cool enough for the boys to require snug coats.

The scenario was a far shiver from that in the Sudan, in 2005, where the first Filipino officers could afford sweating a fifteen-kilometer jog on dry and sandy trails within their encampment. For Yuletide supper, they partook of modest servings of instant Lucky Me pancit canton noodles and 555 sardines –the unofficial MREs, meals (almost) ready to eat, brought in from the Philippines. It was humbled by the Season’s fares on the tables for Liberia and new-millennium Haïti, which both enjoyed scrumptious cuisine à la Philippine military.

There is always something unique about each Christmas season celebrated by the PNP Contingent. The overseas-mission environments differ from one another, and so are the degrees of merrymaking, the degrees in temperature, the dishes (or the heartrending lack of it), the company.

What remained constant was the act of spreading and reaping good cheer, and that these police officers enjoyed the extra-high spirits.