The 2025 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipino Police Awardees
They were the kind of faces you could pass by in a crowded street without a second glance. No headlines screamed their names, and no trumpets announced their work. Yet, in their silence, they moved mountains, built peace in insurgency-cleared provinces, pulled victims out of the shadows of human trafficking, and gave the youth reasons to run towards dreams instead of danger.
And it was in this silence that the truest stories of service were found. This year, the 2025 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos Award— a prestigious recognition honoring teachers, soldiers, and police officers whose service transcends excellence, turns its spotlight on them. Not to bask them in applause, but to show the nation what service looks like when it is lived every single day. For greatness does not always arrive with noise or applause. It often begins quietly, in the rhythm of daily duty, in acts of courage seen by few, and in dedication that never wavers even when no one is watching. From classrooms nurturing dreams, to battlefields securing peace, to streets and remote islands reclaiming safety, these awardees redefine what it means to serve.
Within this year’s circle of honorees, three stand as pillars of the Philippine National Police (PNP): Police Colonel Frederick E. Obar, Liaison Officer for Legislative Agenda, Directorate for Plans; Police Major Elmira A. Relox, Chief, Regional Women and Children Protection Desk, Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region; and Police Master Sergeant Ivan A. Velasco, Plans and Programs Police Non-Commissioned Officer, Presidential Protection Division, Police Security and Protection Group.
From the quiet streets of Barangay Lubing in San Juan, La Union, a young man once walked narrow paths unaware that his journey would one day leave imprints of safety wherever he was assigned. PCol Obar, now with 28 years in service, treats every post not as a place to wait for orders, but as ground to be transformed. As Regional Training Manager of the Regional Special Training Unit 3 (RSTU 3) during the pandemic, he dared to defy the limitations of the pandemic by creating the Virtual Learning System, ensuring that police trainees continued their learning uninterrupted, a move that earned his unit the Best RSTU award in 2020. Later, as Provincial Director of Ilocos Norte, his brainchild program, “Bridging Communities and Law Enforcement for a Safer Ilocos Norte,” became a living blueprint of partnership between law enforcement, youth groups, volunteers, and local safety groups. When he took command of the Luzon Field Unit and Intelligence Division, PNP-Anti-Kidnapping Group, rescue missions became his battleground, where foreign victims were saved, a major syndicate dismantled, and lives restored. His counterinsurgency strategies, executed in collaboration with the military also resulted in the arrest of top CPP-NPA leaders and secured Ilocos Norte’s insurgency-free status. Even within Camp Capt. Valentin S. Juan, every infrastructure improvement carries his vision. For PCol Obar, peace is not just defended, it is built with patience, precision, and purpose.
Far from the northern plains, in the distant islands of Tawi-Tawi, where seas conceal stories of exploitation, stood a woman who chose compassion as her weapon. PMaj Relox, with 26 years in service, turned empathy into systems that rescue the vulnerable and restore dignity. From 2014 to 2018, she transformed the fight against human trafficking through innovations such as the Human Trafficking Route Map and the Trafficking In-Person (TIP) Take-In Form, which became lifelines in profiling victims and identifying trafficking routes. Her leadership led to 185 operations, 1,347 victims rescued, and countless futures reclaimed from darkness. Her compassion extended to Filipino deportees from Sabah, where she ensured that the One Stop Processing Center became a bridge back home. She also forged cross-border cooperation to protect Filipina victims in Malaysia and built a shelter for abused women and children in Tawi-Tawi. Even as Chief of Police of Tandubas, she sought to plant seeds of peace through “Peaceful Beginnings,” a voluntary firearms surrender program that curbed gun violence and fostered trust. PMaj Relox leaves more than achievements, she leaves systems that continue to protect the most vulnerable, even after she has moved on to the next fight.
Meanwhile, from the bustle of the capital, PMSg Velasco moves with a kind of drive that refuses to be confined to a desk. In his 12 years of service, this scuba diver, drone pilot, marksman, and national athlete has worn the badge not as a shield, but as a tool for connection. Decorated with over 100 awards, including the Pulis Magiting x Pilipinong Magiting Award, PMSg Velasco is proof that skill means little without service. His program “Bola Hindi Droga” uses basketball courts as training grounds for discipline, teamwork, and a life away from drugs. His leadership in “OPLAN Double Trident” and “OPLAN Fusion Hornet” encouraged police responsiveness and intelligence sharing among agencies. Even at the height of the pandemic, when fear kept many indoors, he stepped out not only to guard the streets but to lead environmental campaigns, rallying communities to protect what sustains them. For PMSg Velasco, law enforcement is not just about stopping crimes but also about equipping the next generation with the reasons and tools to choose a better path.
These three officers come from different provinces, face different battles, and wear different insignias, yet they are bound by one belief: the uniform is not merely worn, it is lived. Along with them stand four teachers who turn classrooms into sanctuaries of hope, and three soldiers whose valor has held the line for peace.
The 2025 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos remind us that service is not measured by the noise it makes, but by the lives it quietly transforms. And when the applause fades, their work remains, building strength, planting kindness, and leaving behind a hope strong enough to outlast generations.
