Saturday, October 14, 2006 Besides Marines, Army soldiers to help secure summit
ASIDE from the 500-strong 7th Marine Battalion, one battalion from the Philippine Army will be joining the security force of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Cebu in December.
Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. Jefferson Omandam told Sun.Star Cebu that all augmentation forces will be in place before the summit.
Their job will be to “sanitize” Metro Cebu.
The Marines, whom Omandam called the national maneuver unit, will be “part of a larger force” tasked to oversee the ports of entry to Cebu.
He did not say where they will be assigned, but said the forces of Central Command will be spread out in selected areas of Cebu and not just within the summit area.
The country is on alert after a series of bombings hit Central Mindanao this week.
Police admitted they were also checking reports of the alleged presence of terrorist groups reaching Cebu, though the reports remained unverified.
The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 is also reminding all units to continue target hardening measures.
Regional Operations and Plans Division Chief Carmelo Valmoria, in a memorandum dated Tuesday, ordered all police chiefs to intensify the conduct of checkpoints “particularly in the summit area.”
This is to “forestall the commission of any lawless activity of to effect arrests upon persons who commit the same.”
The PRO 7 wants them to be on the lookout for persons possessing unlicensed firearms, explosives, deadly weapons and other objects or tools used to perpetrate crimes.
Valmoria also reminded them to continue target hardening measures of vital installations.
Aside from the bombings in North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat, the ongoing construction of the international airport in Silay City and a Globe Telecom tower in Davao Oriental were destroyed by communist rebels last Sunday.
“You are directed to undertake appropriate action and implement necessary countermeasures for security and safety of your respective units and all vital installations, particularly security for aviation, maritime and land or rail transit,” Valmoria said. (MEA)
