PO3 Cueto finds no difficulty in dividing her time between rapists and drug dealers, pursuing these criminals with equal passion and talent. In her relatively short career as a police officer, her competence and dedication have proven invaluable not just in making our communities safer and more secure from these felons, but in helping victims of sexual crimes deal with their ordeal  hrough the pursuit of justice.

When not doing surveillance work on suspected drug pushers or posing as a buyer in entrapment operations, she is chasing leads or actually taking part in the apprehension of other notorious law breakers, many of whom are charged with crimes against women and children, including two of the most wanted persons in the province of Batangas.

Her list of targets has since included known prostitution and white slavery joints, such as massage parlors and karaoke bars, where minors are often rescued and rehabilitated before being sent home, with the help of concerned government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Labor and Employment.

After going through an assortment of jobs in the private sector, PO2 Girlie Gay Sañado finally found her calling in law enforcement when she joined the PNP in 1997. “My father and brother were policemen. They advised me to try it out because working in government was more stable than staying in the private sector. I preferred working in City Hall but I ended up taking the PNP exams,” she said.

It was hard at the beginning for P02 Sanado because she had to start from the bottom rung. After a sheltered life as a BSBA Accounting major at the Mindanao State University, she suddenly had to tough it out in her 9-month PNP training. “After a while, I learned to love my work. I started at the Women’s and Children’s Desk in Gen. Santos City Police Station and after 11 years, I am now an investigator, an advocate of children’s and women’s rights and a teacher to elementary students on the drug awareness and resistance program,” she marvels.

At 36 years old, she is just at the dawn of her career but she has certainly paid her dues and is now slowly reaping the fruits of all her hard work. Last year, she was one of the top 10 police officers who were recognized as the Country’s Policemen in Service (COPS). Aside from this, she has received four medals of merit and efficiency as well as almost 30 commendations both from police hierarchy and local government authorities, honoring her exemplary achievements as a police officer.

To the uninitiated, SPO2 Josefa Lacandula, or Jobie to friends, is the lady police women and children run to when they are in trouble. Battered wives, rape victims and abused children all know her face.

One of the cases SPO2 Lacandula handled was the arrest of cybersex operators in Dumaguete City. Four girls who came to the city to work as household helpers were induced to work as subjects in this crime through promises of easy money. This was reported to the police by the aunt of one of the girls who became suspicious of the unusually large amount of money that the girl had.