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Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Tight security measures in place for Bush visit
By Miko Santos
SECURITY measures are in place for US President George Bush's eight-hour stay in Manila on Oct. 18, with police already put on high alert, Metro Manila regional police chief Reynaldo Velasco said Tuesday.
"We are conducting preemptive and preventive strikes in view of the renewed threats of terrorist attacks," Velasco said.
Policemen have secured establishments near Malacañang and bomb-sniffing dogs regularly make the rounds of the Palace and other vital installations in Metro Manila, he said.
Police officials have linked up with members of Bush's advance party to coordinate security arrangements, Velasco said.
US Secret Service officials met security and protocol officers in the Palace, Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said.
In Malacañang and a nearby guesthouse, nearly two dozen US agents inspected the grounds and some rooms Monday, officials said.
About 40 US Secret Service agents and US embassy protocol officers inspected Monday the sprawling grounds of the House of Representatives in Quezon City, where Bush is expected to address a joint session of Congress.
They left a list of security requirements, including a holding room for the US president, a communications room and a joint check on people attending the event, said House secretary-general Roberto Nazareno.
The US Secret Service agents, who arrived in six vehicles, toured the House premises, including the Session Hall and the adjacent Mitra Building.
Additional policemen will be deployed in Metro Manila during the visit, which will be Bush's first to Asia since he became president three years ago.
Police will also not prohibit protest demonstrations during US President George W. Bush's brief visit to Manila in October as long as protesters play by their rules.
"Protests should be safe and be in designated areas so that no commotion will erupt," police-community relations director Ricardo de Leon said.
The "no permit, no rally" policy will be strictly enforced, he added.
A militant group said, however, that it expected to be dispersed forcibly despite the police announcement, recalling the dispersal of recent anti-government demonstrations.
"There is a feeling of political repression," Geri Albert Corpuz, spokesperson for the fisher folk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamlakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), said in a phone interview as he recounted how a violent dispersal of an anti-World Trade Organization rally last Tuesday left 30 militants hurt.
"The security measures are irritating," he added. "They give the semblance of militarization."
Corpuz criticized President Arroyo's decision to provide "maximum security" to the visiting American leader, saying the money spent on preparations would be a waste of resources. |
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