Davao City Police officers in formation (davaotoday.com file photo)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Around 5,000 security, traffic, and quick emergency response personnel will be deployed to secure the city for the duration of the Holy Week.
Davao City Police Office spokesperson, Senior Inspector Ma. Teresita Gaspan told Davao Today in a phone interview that they will deploy 503 personnel to provide security solely for each Catholic Church in the city for the whole Holy Week starting until Easter Sunday.
This means that there will be a total of 2,525 police officers, both uniformed and in plainclothes, that will be securing both the sites and routes of the activities.
Gaspan said this will be augmented by additional forces from the Task Force Davao, the City Traffic and Transportation Management Office, and the Davao City Risk Reduction Management Office, totaling to at least 5,000 state forces.
“That’s just for the first blanket of security,” Gaspan said.
She added, “That does not include those that will secure the second layer, or those who will be conducting police visibility in our areas of convergence, especially malls, terminals, and our ports.”
For his part, CTTMO chief Dionisio Abude confirmed that they have already laid out their plans to manage the expected surge in traffic especially during the holy activities.
In a statement, the CTTMO announced that they will be deploying “close to a thousand personnel and enforcers” to manage the city’s traffic situations.
They will be “restricting” ambulant vendors in order to ease up possible congestion. The CTTMO will also be providing towing vehicles should motorists require their assistance. (davaotoday.com)
