MANILA: The Philippine National Police (PNP) will deploy 19,869 police personnel to secure venues, hotels and motorcade routes during the Asean Summit from Nov 15 to 17.
The police force is also stepping up intelligence monitoring and finalising its security preparations ahead of the regional gathering, which is expected to bring more than 20 world leaders to the country.
“We will deploy 19,869 police personnel to secure the summit venues, hotels, and motorcade routes in close coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Presidential Security Command, other agencies, and local government units,” PNP chief Gen Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr said at a press briefing on Monday.
“The PNP is in the final stages of ironing out its security preparations to ensure that every detail is covered before the arrival of our foreign leaders and delegates,” Nartatez said in a statement on Monday.
“We are fine-tuning our deployment, intelligence monitoring, contingency plans, and inter-agency coordination because when it comes to security, even the smallest detail matters,” he added.
Nartatez also said the police force had reviewed its personnel deployment, intelligence operations, contingency measures and coordination with other agencies to address possible security concerns.
The National Capital Region Police Office and other concerned units were directed to finalise their security arrangements and verify deployment plans before the arrival of foreign dignitaries and delegates.
The PNP chief stressed that even minor details in the security preparations must be addressed to ensure the safety of visiting leaders and delegates.
Malacañang earlier reported that preparations for the regional gathering were already 90% to 95% complete.
“We assure our Asean partners that the PNP is fully committed and prepared to secure this important regional gathering,” Nartatez said.
“We will leave nothing to chance, and our personnel will remain vigilant, disciplined, and ready to respond to any eventuality to ensure a peaceful and incident-free summit,” he added. - Inquirer/ANN
