Metro Cebu now on alert

CEBU, Philippines - Starting today, the police in Metro Cebu will be on heightened alert as they expect the arrival of the first six foreign delegates who will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this weekend.

Senior Superintendent Marciano Batiancela Jr., the acting chief of the Cebu City Police Office, also said two days before the opening of the APEC summit in Cebu, the whole police force in Central Visayas, will be declaring a full alert status for the safety and security of the expected 3,200 delegates.

Batiancela said as of now, half of the security force from the CCPO intended for this event, are already deployed especially to the hotels in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, where the APEC meetings will be held and the delegates will temporarily stay.

Batiancela said some augmentation police personnel from the province of Negros have already arrived in Cebu. He further said they are also expecting police augmentation from the province of Bohol, Siquijor, Regional Public Safety Battalion-7 and members of the Special Action Force from Camp Crame.

Batiancela said the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy will provide security in the seas around the Cebu area.

Of the six delegates arriving today, four will be from Mexico, one from Australia and the other from the USA.

Mandaue police

Mandaue City Police Office chief Senior Superintendent Mariano Natu-el said more or less 140 personnel from the Police Regional Office-7 and Regional Public Safety Battalion-7 will be augmented to ensure the security of the delegates while pass by Mandaue City.

Aside from policemen another 100 force multipliers will be also added for the security of the city.

The augmentation forces are initially arranged for billeting near Norkis Mandaue Head Office on A.S. Fortuna Street, although there will be alternative billeting in areas where the officers will be assigned.

The APEC meetings will be held in five hotels in the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Cebu. But Mandaue City, which separates both cities, is bolstering its security since the delegates will pass through it in going to and from the APEC meeting venues.

Province fielding cops

The Cebu Police Provincial Office will deploy 527 policemen from the different stations and the provincial headquarters, or roughly 30 percent of their total strength of 1,680 policemen, to augment the Police Regional Office-7 as part of the preparation for the APEC Summit.

Cebu Police Provincial Director Noel Gillamac said that the augmented force will take on a crucial role being assigned to the Task Group Security.

He admitted that the province will lack policemen with the deployment, but he said that he will maximize his resources for the duration of the APEC summit.

He said that the major tourist destinations in the province will be secured. They have identified Kota Park, Madridejos; Sta. Fe Beach; Malapascua, Daanbantayan; San Franciso, Camotes Island; Basdiot, Moalboal; Matutinao, Badian; Tan-awan, Oslob; and Osmeña Peak, Dalaguete town.

Inspector Junafe Vergara of the provincial headquarters said each of those eight major tourist destinations will get 28 tourist police personnel in addition to 63 force multipliers.  Out of the 47 hotels in the whole province 79 police personnel are to be deployed from the different police stations and with them 116 force multipliers.

Just stay away

The Cebu Organizing Committee for the APEC conference has advised the public to stay away from the ceremonial routes of delegates or those leading to the billeting hotels and venues of the meetings.

This is to decongest traffic in these routes and prevent delegates from being stuck in traffic jams, said Lito Maderazo, overall coordinator of the local organizing committee.

“Instead of going to that ceremonial route, maybe you should look for another route,” he said.

He noted that maps and announcements will be published soon to guide the public on the ceremonial and alternative routes

“There might be inconvenience. But let us roll our red carpet to welcome our visitors. These are not ordinary people, because these are senior officials from 21 member economies. This time, we will have the opportunity for all important people form important countries. These 21 economies account more than 50 percent of the global trade,” he added.

There are nine hotels where the delegates will be billeted. They will be shuttled to different venues of the meetings. Among the hotels are Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Cebu City Marriott Hotel, Radisson Blu Hotel-Cebu and Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa.

Cebu will start hosting the third Senior Officials’ Meeting on August 22 to September 6.

Four ministerial meetings are also set to be held in Cebu. These are on structural reform on September 7 to 8, finance on September 10 to 11, transportation on October 8 to 10, and energy on October 12 to 14.

He added that the traffic situation must be managed carefully and if possible the police station chiefs will recommend to the local executives not to hold any activity in the major roads in the municipality.

If it is not possible then traffic personnel should close the other side of the road so that motorists can still utilize the other half of the road especially during peak hours. — with Jave A. Matugas, Bryner L. Diaz and Michael Vencynth H. Braga/BRP (FREEMAN)