Police to remain on red alert

MANILA, Philippines – The police will remain on red alert until the situation ‘normalizes’, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday, May 14.

In a briefing, PNP PIO Police Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo said, however, that the red alert can be lifted by ground commanders in some areas where the situation has normalized.

“The red alert status or full alert that we implemented on May 6 on a nationwide coverage, the one who can lift this is the [PNP] National Headquarters if we feel that the situation has fully normalized,” Cerbo said.

“In some areas, it will be on the discretion of the ground commander,” he added.

Deployment

With the voting completed, the police and the army will also be deploying 279 police and military personnel as security detail of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the Philippines International Convention Center (PICC).

The PNP will deploy 228 policemen while the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will deploy 51 soldiers. The security detail will be obtained from:

• Pasay City Police Station
• Police Security and Protection Group (PSPG)
• Special Action Force (SAF)
• Maritime Group (MG)
• Civil Disturbance Management (CDM)
• Explosives Ordinace Detection (EOD) K9
• Special Reaction Unit (SRU)
• Traffic Management Reaction Unit (TMRU)
• Aviation Security Group (ASG)

“Security of all cities continues for all canvassing areas in the polling center, Comelec offices and for the election officers as well as the movement of PCOS machines and other election paraphernalia. The continuing security coverage happens in other parts of the country, just like what Police Director General (Alan Purisima) promised that any security coverage in the elections will continue until the whole thing finishes,” Cerbo said.

The PNP said NCR cities will continue to be provided of security to canvassing areas, Comelec offices and officials, and the transport of PCOS machines and other paraphernalia under the direction of Comelec officers. – Rappler.com