CEBU CITY -- The head of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas' Security Task Group Cebu encouraged the public, especially those attending the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC), to take an active role in ensuring the safety and security of all the people attending the international event.
The IEC Congress proper, which will be held in Cebu City, will start five days from now. It is a gathering of Catholic leaders from around the world.
Fr. Joseph Larida, of the Archdiocese of Cebu-IEC Security Committee, said Tuesday that around 8,000 people have registered so far for the event, but they are expecting around 12,000 to 15,000 delegates.
"We are conceptualizing the 'Whole of Nation' approach, wherein everybody, whatever sector you belong to, has a role to play. Remember that even the smallest things you do will contribute so much to the safety of the whole," said Police Senior Superintendent Rey Lyndon Lawas in a forum hosted by the Association of Government Information Officers-Philippine Information Agency on Tuesday, January 19.
He said that the security plan for the IEC is still "a work in progress," considering that there are still some developments and updates as to the arrival of delegates.
"Padayon ang atoang preparation (Preparation is ongoing) in coordination with the Office of the IEC Secretariat and government agencies," Lawas said.
He also stressed that based on their intelligence reports, the police have not monitored any possible threat from terrorist groups.
"Based on our Regional Intelligence Fusion report, we have not monitored any possible threat from any particular group for Central Visayas alone. But for local, we are trying to see the threat of some petty crimes like pickpocketing," he said.
The police and security forces, Lawas added, are trying to address three challenges: crowd management, traffic management and criminality.
"While we are formulating different countermeasures to address these challenges, our first step is prevention of these concerns, but if we cannot prevent them, we should be able to formulate certain actions that we will implement on particular scenarios," he said.
Lawas added that more policemen will be deployed around Cebu City starting Thursday, January 21, adding that their pre-deployment conference will start tomorrow, January 20.
"This time, police officers will be deployed to the streets. Some checkpoints will be conducted on strategic areas and police assistance desks will be established along the streets and hotels where the delegates will be staying," he said.
"There will also be some further security check in some establishments where the IEC activities will be held," Lawas added.
He urged the public to report to police suspicious or unusual activities, stressing: "Security is not only the concern of the police or the government, but a concern of everybody."
The IEC Congress proper will begin on January 24, with the Opening Mass to be held at Plaza Independencia in Cebu City. The event will run until January 31, with a culminating mass to be held at the South Road Properties expected to gather at least one million participants. (Sunnex)