From Airport Security to Police Officer: Pat Seredan Tomarong's ETEEAP Journey

For nine years, Pat Seredan Tomarong’s daily routine looked the same. Wake up, put on the uniform, and head to the airport to work as an aviation security officer under Quickstar Security and Investigations Agency Inc. He checked bags, watched over gates, and kept travelers safe, all without a college diploma to his name. He was, on paper, just a high school graduate doing a job that demanded far more than what his transcript showed.

Today, Pat is a police officer. And the bridge that got him from the airport tarmac to the police force wasn’t a four-year classroom grind. It was the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program, better known as ETEEAP, through Cagayan De Oro College.

Here’s how his story unfolded, and what it can teach anyone in a similar position who feels stuck between years of hard-earned experience and a degree they never got the chance to finish.

Jump to a section:

Nine Years of Watching Over Others, Unnoticed

There’s a particular kind of quiet frustration that comes with working in security. You’re trained to notice everything, to stay alert for nine, ten, sometimes twelve hours at a stretch, and yet very few people ever ask what you know or what you’re capable of. Pat lived that reality for nearly a decade at the airport, under Quickstar Security and Investigations Agency Inc.

He wasn’t unqualified. Far from it. Years on the job meant he understood threat assessment, crowd behavior, protocol enforcement, and the kind of split-second decision making that most textbooks can only describe in theory. What he lacked was the piece of paper that would let institutions, and frankly, society, recognize that expertise formally.

That gap between real competence and formal credentials is exactly the problem ETEEAP was built to solve.

Turning a Security Badge Into a Criminology Degree

Under Republic Act No. 12124, the law that institutionalized ETEEAP nationwide, a candidate doesn’t need to sit through four years of lectures to earn a bachelor’s degree. Instead, a panel of assessors evaluates the work experience, training, and demonstrated skills a candidate already has, and matches them against the learning outcomes of a specific degree program. For Pat, that meant his nine years of frontline security work at the airport could be mapped directly onto the curriculum for a Bachelor of Science in Criminology.

That’s not a shortcut in the sense of skipping rigor. If anything, it flips the order. Instead of learning first and applying later, ETEEAP candidates apply what they already know and get assessed on how well it holds up. Written exams, portfolio reviews, and panel interviews all come into play before any credit is awarded, which is why the degree carries the same weight as one earned the traditional way.

Pat went through that process and came out the other side with a legitimate criminology degree, the exact credential that opened the door for him to become a police officer.

Why Cagayan De Oro College and ETEEAP Made Sense

Cagayan De Oro College has built a track record of helping professionals from the military, security, and related fields complete their BS Criminology through ETEEAP. For someone already working in security like Pat, a school with that kind of focus and familiarity with candidates coming from similar backgrounds was a natural fit. The institution understood the language of his industry, which made the assessment process feel less like an interrogation and more like a fair evaluation of what he had already built over the years.

This is one of the underrated advantages of ETEEAP. Deputized higher education institutions aren’t just checking boxes. They’re staffed with panels who know how to translate real-world experience into academic credit, which matters enormously when your entire career has happened outside a classroom.

If you’re curious whether a school near you offers a similar pathway for your own field, it’s worth browsing the list of accredited schools to see which institutions specialize in your line of work.

Faith, Gratitude, and the People Who Pushed Him Forward

What stands out in Pat’s own account of his journey isn’t just the technical process of accreditation. It’s the gratitude woven through every part of it. He credits his ETEEAP coordinator, Sir Jhune Castro, for the guidance, support, and encouragement that carried him through the harder stretches of the assessment. Anyone who has gone through a portfolio review or an oral panel defense knows how much having someone in your corner can matter.

Above all, Pat points to his faith. He describes the entire experience, from high school graduate to security guard to criminology graduate to police officer, as nothing short of God’s grace. It’s a reminder that behind every ETEEAP success story is a person who kept showing up, year after year, long before anyone offered them a formal reason to believe it would pay off.

What Pat’s Story Means for Others Weighing the Same Decision

If you’re currently working in security, the military, or any field where your daily responsibilities already resemble what’s taught in a criminology classroom, Pat’s story is worth sitting with. He didn’t need to quit his job or start from zero. He needed a program that recognized what he had already learned on the ground, and a school willing to assess it properly.

The basic requirements for ETEEAP haven’t changed much since Pat’s time. Applicants must be Filipino citizens, at least 23 years old, hold a high school diploma or its equivalent, and have at least five years of aggregate work experience related to the degree they’re pursuing. If that description sounds like your own resume, the next step isn’t nearly as intimidating as it might seem.

Thinking about whether your own years of experience could translate into a college degree? Start by checking if you qualify for ETEEAP, or browse our directory of CHED-deputized schools to find one that fits your field. You can also read more success stories from professionals who walked a similar path before you.