THE Philippine National police (PNP) will field 120,000 officers and beef up public safety plans to ensure peace and order during the opening of the new school year on Monday, June 3, 2019
PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde said police assistance desks will be established in areas which can be easily accessed by the students and teachers.
Around 29 million students in various grade levels across the country are expected to troop back to schools for the opening of classes on Monday for school year 2019-2020.
Albayalde said they were coordinating with the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education to ensure public safety.
Under the Ligtas Balik-Eskwela 2019, Albayalde said the PNP will ensure the operational readiness of all units to respond to peace and order concerns, including threats from criminal elements who may take advantage of the situation.
Police have also been instructed to conduct foot and mobile patrolling in the vicinity of schools. The officers would be on the lookout for drug traffickers, muggers, and violent street gangs who may infiltrate the ranks of students.
In Metro Manila, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Guillermo Eleazar said a total of 7,030 policemen will be deployed in various schools. Of the total, over 2,000 officers will man police assistance desks.
Eleazar said they have instituted a protocol on how explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units would deal with bomb threats as part of their security preparations.
The protocol includes having a point person who will answer the bomb threat call and determine the place where the caller claimed to have put the bomb.
He said the place should immediately be vacated and cordoned off while it is being reported to the police.
He urged the public, particularly the students and the school stakeholders, to keep calm during such situations.
Eleazar said in cases of suspicious-looking items randomly left behind, the first step is to determine whether the item was accidentally left by someone and if not, it should be immediately reported to the police. (SunStar Philippines)