"Hospitable, hard-working, passionate, and sincere."

Those were the words used by Republic of the Philippines Major Vicente Tolentino to describe everyone during his current visit to the Tamaqua Police Department and Crossroads Community Church in Lehighton.Major Tolentino, who serves as the Republic of the Philippine's Subic Bay Freeport Chief of Operations, Law Enforcement Department, and his wife, Cindy, are spending a number of days in Schuylkill and Carbon County, as well as in Washington, D.C., learning and sharing knowledge concerning law enforcement as well as religious training and views.Major Tolentino arrived in Pennsylvania on Friday and will be headed back to the Philippines early Tuesday. More than 1,200 Philippine police officers currently serve under his command in the Philippines at Subic Bay, which covers about 244 square kilometers and once served as a major U.S. Naval Base ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility in Zambales, Philippines.Subic Bay was also the largest U.S. Navy installation in the Pacific and was the largest overseas military installation of the United States Armed Forces after Clark Air Base in Angeles City was closed in 1991. A Military Bases Agreement of 1947 was amended in 1979, changing the role of the Americans at Subic Bay from landlord to guest. The amendment confirmed Philippine sovereignty over the base and reduced the area set aside for U.S. use from 244 to 63 square kilometers. On Dec. 27, 1991, Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who had previously fought to delay the U.S. pullout to cushion the country's battered economy, issued a formal notice for the U.S. to leave by the end of 1992. Philippine troops and local government assumed responsibility for the perimeter security of the base to reduce incidents between U.S. military and Philippine civilians.This is what eventually started Tolentino's career in 1982, after he was attached with the United States Department of Defense (DOD) security forces, and was eventually promoted as policeman via the United States government. His pride for country led him to work without pay during the arduous retrogration of United States forces from the Philippines. Philippine infrastructure, government, laws, constitution, and even religious views are based on and almost identical to the United States, due America's long military occupation and presence there.Tolentino forces still work hand in hand with United States military forces to share battle, knowledge, and training tactics with each other. This is one of the reasons for Sunday's informal visit to the Tamaqua Police Station. Tolentino, who is also a trained criminologist and also serves as the volunteer management coordinator for the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction Management, spent a good deal of time talking with Tamaqua Police Chief Dave Mattson and other local police officers concerning various aspects and training measures of their department, pointing out a few differences, as well as a lot of similarities.Mattson also demonstrated his department's electric taser, and acting as Tamaqua's liaison, provided a brief escorted tour of the police station and town in a Tamaqua Police cruiser.In addition to his Philippine governmental duties, Tolentino also serves as an elder and pastor at his local Christian church. Major Tolentino is a nephew to John and Bernardita Leibenguth of Tamaqua, who have both lived in Tamaqua more than 20 years after they met, while John, who retired from the United States Navy, was stationed at the United States Subic Bay Naval Base.One of Tolentino's first stops was the Crossroads Community Church in Lehighton. Tolentino, who is well versed in the English language, spent time talking to church Pastor Claude Ruba and parishioners during Sunday's church service. Tolentino's dedication to duty and strong religious beliefs caused him to start the "Moral Recovery Program" for Philippine Police Officers. His program was implemented to bring back the glory of law enforcement by restoring values, respect and commitment to duty, to continue the progress of the New Subic Bay as a modern residential, industrial, commercial and tourist location."Everyone in America has been very hospitable, sincere, and continue to treat us as equals," said Tolentino. "Our county has a lot of respect for the United States and its admirable values and way of life."