More soldiers due here for summit security

With the 12th ASEAN Summit less than 50 days away, the Central Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Cebu City has announced that a battalion of Marines and Army soldiers are scheduled to arrive in Cebu tomorrow.

This was based on the information disclosed by Centcom spokesman Lt. Col. Jefferson Omandam saying that the impending arrival of the augmentation forces is part of the country's effort to make sure that the heads of state and other delegates attending the international event will be fully secured.

"This is to show that we cannot afford to commit mistakes during the ASEAN Summit," Omandam stressed.

Expected to welcome the soldiers on Saturday are local government executives and officials from the military, government agencies and the media.

Meanwhile, officers from the Police Regional Office-7 headed by Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio, Jr. and officers from the lower units in the region are undergoing a seminar to upgrade their knowledge about chemical, biological and nuclear attacks in relation to the counter-terrorism preparation for the upcoming ASEAN Summit this December.

Supt. Anthony Obenza, the officer-in-charge of the Police Community Relations of the PRO-7 told The FREEMAN that there are two separate ongoing seminars in Midtown Hotel and PRO-7 conference hall that started last Monday and scheduled to end today.

The seminar in Midtown hotel is for Critical Incident Management Simulation Exercise attended by higher echelons of the PRO-7 and some high-ranking officials from the national headquarters led by Police Deputy director general Isidro Lapeña.

The seminar tackles about the nature of terrorism in the world at present, overview of the existing RP-UK counter-terror program and the existing PNP counter-terror capability.

It also includes the preparedness of the emergency medical response of the emergency medical services during mass casualty incidents, the response mechanism of the Bureau of Fire Protection during terror attacks and how to handle the impact of the crisis for media presentation.

While the other seminar held at PRO-7 was intended for the designated first responders in such incidents, these personnel were usually assigned in police stations and the immediate posting of security personnel near the scene.

The first responders, according to Obenza, must determine the extent of damage and the possible impending second danger that might happen to the rushing rescuers or responders to the scene.

The first responders must immediately set up Incident Command System in the area so that proper coordination of the operation with minimum danger will be applied.

According to Obenza, they were made to watch a documentary footage of the September 11 terror attack at the World Trade Center in New York, where hundreds of first responders died as the twin towers gave in due to its structural damage after two passenger planes crashed into them.

Aside from these, the participants are given information about the use of hazardous materials as ingredients in a terror attack. These hazardous materials would be either made of chemical, biological such as nerve gases, and nuclear.

To know about all of these would be beneficial to the people fielded during the ASEAN summit, as these would lessen the casualties and that authorities can perform efficient action in addressing the crisis, Obenza said. - Edwin Ian Melecio with Gregg M. Rubio/MEEV