2,000 cops to secure APEC meetings

CEBU, Philippines - More than 2,000 police personnel will be deployed to secure the foreign delegates to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Cebu starting Thursday.

Police Regional Office-7 director Chief Superintendent Prudencio Tom Bañas said the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard will assist the police in the security preparations.

“We will be deploying about 2,282 police personnel together with about 700 from the AFP and the coast guard,” said Bañas.

Security personnel will come from Cebu City Police Office, Mandaue City Police Office, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, and the Regional Public Safety Battalion-7.

Bañas said they are expecting around 700 delegates for second round of APEC meetings. The number of delegates is lesser compared to the 3,000 participants in August and September. Bañas assured that tight security will still be implemented to ensure the safety of the delegates.

 “We cannot afford to relax because our security measures should be in place. And as I have said, we did good the last time, we could do better this time. There is always room for improvement,” said Bañas.

Bañas said the regional headquarters decided not to pull out police personnel from Bohol province since security is also needed for the tourists expected to be visiting the neighboring island.

Bañas asked for the public’s understanding because of the expected inconvenience, especially on the traffic rerouting.

“Gamay naman sakripisyo sa traffic so that our tourist and foreign delegates will bring good news when they go back to their different countries of how beautiful Central Visayas is. Yun ang challenge natin,” said Bañas.

Bañas hopes to improve the lapses that they have committed during the first rounds of APEC meetings.

“There were some lapses that we discussed earlier and we can improve some more,” said Bañas.

The Land Transportation Office-7 said it will deploy 22 personnel on top of the 106 traffic personnel of Lapu-Lapu City during the Energy and Transportation Ministerial Meetings on October 8 to 14 at the Shangri-La’s Resort and Spa.

LTO-7 director Arnel Tancinco said that the cities of Mandaue and Cebu have no commitment yet as to how many traffic personnel they can deploy to help man the traffic.

“Wa pa sila ni commit og pila ka buok traffic personnel ilang ipang deploy kay ang APEC meetings adto ra man sa Shangri-La e-held,” Tancinco said.

Tancinco said that a team from the Department of Transportation and Communication headed by Undersecretary Edwin Lopez arrived yesterday to start the preparation.

DOTC Secretary Emilio “Jun” Abaya will head the country’s delegation and will sit as chairman of the said meeting.

Among the topics to be discussed during APEC Transportation Ministerial Meeting include urbanization, economic development, and the rising volume of people and goods moving within and between Asia-Pacific markets that has threatened to undermine the capacity for trade and growth across the region’s economies.

Transportation Ministers from APEC members will also take actions to drive economic growth through inclusive mobility and sustainable transport systems. — with Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/FPL (FREEMAN)