PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will be in Cebu for the weekend.
At 3 p.m. today, Duterte will be in the southwestern town of Alegria for the ceremonial commencement of oil and gas production at the Alegria Oil Field Polyard-3 Website in Barangay Montpeller.
The oil field, operated by the China International Mining Petroleum (CIMP) Company Limited, was discovered in 2009.
The Department of Energy and CIMP signed a joint declaration of its viability early this year.
At 5 p.m., Duterte will attend the opening ceremonies of the Philippine National Games (PNG) 2018 at the Cebu City Sports Center.
Security matters
Tomorrow, the President will be at the northern town of Tabogon to attend its annual fiesta.
In a press briefing yesterday, Charry Mantala of the Malacañang Accreditation and Relations Office told reporters that Duterte was invited by Mayor Ziegfred Duterte, who is his third-degree nephew.
Meanwhile, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Robert Quenery said that an elaborate security plan is in place for the presidential visit.
Because the President will have three engagements, more than a thousand police officers will be deployed for the entire duration of his stay, Quenery said.
The PRO 7 will also secure the more than 5,000 delegates of the PNG.
“The opening and the hosting of Cebu for the Philippine National Games is also an important activity that we also have to look into the security of the more than 5,000 delegates who are coming over and would be billeted in at least eight billeting centers within Cebu City and in the province also,” he said.
Senior Insp. Welther Grapa, Tabogon Police Station chief, said that they’ve prepared for Duterte’s visit during the town’s fiesta tomorrow.
“We’re excited and we are negative of any threats but we will nevertheless tighten our security. He was invited by the mayor who is his relative for a reunion,” he said.
In another development, the Kilusang Pagbabago (KP), a group of Duterte supporters, called on the President to implement the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit project.
KP Cebu leaders plan to hand over their appeal to the President today.
“BRT is the immediate solution (to the traffic problem). Stopping BRT, as recommended by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas and the Department of Transportation, does not help the traffic situation and will leave Cebu suffering for the next 10-15 years. The BRT must continue,” said the KP statement. (JKV & JOB with PR)