Brig. Gen. Felipe R. Natividad
The former head of the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) took the helm at the Special Action Force (SAF) office of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. The SAF of the PNP is an elite fighting unit of the national police force.
Former BPPO chief Brig. Gen. Felipe Natividad assumed the leadership role in the SAF as he replaced Maj. Gen. Bernabe Balba.
Newly-minted PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar presided over the change of command at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig. Eleazar said he is confident that Natividad has the tools to maintain the reputation of the SAF as an elite fighting unit of the national police force.
“I am confident that under your [Natividad] leadership, the SAF will maintain its earned reputation of being the most dependable and highly-specialized force that aims to ensure peace and order across the country,” Eleazar said.
Prior to his assignment as SAF chief, Natividad served as chief of the Calabarzon PNP after he was appointed by former PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas.
Natividad held the reigns of the BPPO when he served as the police provincial of Bohol from July 2016 until January 2018.
During his stint as BPPO chief, Natividad led the police in neutralizing 11 members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) who made an incursion in Inbanga town, presumably to conduct terror attacks in the province during the staging of several meetings related to the country’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) summit back in April 2017.
The alleged terror plan of the ASG was foiled after the 11 ASG members were killed by law enforcement agents from the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Moreover, Natividad stepped down as BPPO chief after he was replaced by Col. Angelito Geñorga in January 2018.