BY AARON RECUENCO
The police commander who was among those who led the defense of Bohol against the Abu Sayyaf members in 2017 was named as the new head of the Calabarzon regional police, one of the coveted posts in the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Brig. Gen. Felipe Natividad took over the position effective on Tuesday, the same day his predecessor, Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao, was named as the director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
As director of the Police Regional Office 4A, Natividad will oversee the peace and order in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.
A member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1990, Natividad was the provincial director of Bohol when 11 Abu Sayyaf men on board three pump boats arrived to conduct kidnappings.
Four of the ASG members were killed during the initial gunfight with joint police and military operatives while the rest were either killed or arrested in the ensuing manhunt and pockets of firefight that lasted for days.
Natividad used to be assigned to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) before he was named provincial director of Bohol.
He was then transferred to the Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) after his Bohol assignment.
In 2018, Natividad was named as the Senior Police Assistant (SPA) to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, the same year he got his first star rank. (Aaron Recuenco)