Police task force formed to secure IPU meet

The Philippine National Police (PNP) formed a special task force yesterday to ensure the safety of the 2,500 delegates to the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) general assembly in Manila next week.

PNP Intelligence Group director Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan said members of the newly formed Task Force Parliamentary, headed by Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco, will secure delegates from the time they arrive at the airport until they leave the country.

At least 4,000 policemen will be deployed to guard hotels around Manila along with the hotel security staff while the Coast Guard will be tasked to monitor the bay area.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it would contribute to the PNP’s intelligence information gathering activities.

"Our major role would be to provide intelligence information about threats or potential threats. We would also react if there are cases to be investigated in coordination with the PNP," NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said.

Rafanan noted though that there is no specific threat against IPU delegates from the Abu Sayyaf, the Communist Party of the Philippines and other criminal groups, though they expect cause-oriented groups to hold protest rallies during the conference.

Nevertheless, the delegates will be escorted to their hotels and to the main venue of the conference at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

"We are adopting the security measures applied during the APEC," said Rafanan, referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in Manila and in Subic, Zambales in November 1996.

The PICC has already been cordoned off but nearby establishments will be allowed to operate under strict security supervision.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said the police force will try its best to make sure that the gathering of parliamentarians will be one of the safest and most secure events in the Philippines.

"The whole world is watching and our countrymen are on the edges of their seats. With your support and cooperation, we will prove our competence," Razon said.

As of yesterday, at least 1,224 international leaders had already confirmed attendance at the event where some 1,500 parliamentarians from 150 countries are to converge in Manila from April 3 to 9. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan may be able to attend this year’s gathering.

Established in 1889, the IPU is an international organization composed of parliamentarians from various countries and serves as a forum to push for democracy and world peace.

The gathering of international legislators is a good opportunity to drum up interest in the country and entice international tourists to come and visit the country’s tourist destinations like Boracay and Subic, the government said.

Early last week, at least 20 delegates from Europe arrived in the country as an advance party to explore the country’s tourist sites.

"This only proves that the Philippines is a safe place to visit contrary to some international travel advisories which painted a different picture of our country," Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) general manager and chief executive officer Robert Dean Barbers said.

According to the organizing committee of the IPU conference, most of the delegates went to Boracay, Banaue, Puerto Galera, Hidden Valley and other tourist spots in Metro Manila.

Senate President Franklin Drilon called on the public to showcase the Philippines as a country worth visiting.

In this light, he defended the expenses incurred for the rehabilitation of the PICC and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), which some groups claimed reached P37 million.

Drilon stressed that the PICC and the CCP had to be renovated as the structures have become dilapidated. Only P15 million, he said, was spent for the rehabilitation of the PICC, P10 million of which came from Drilon’s pork barrel allocation while P5 million came from Sen. Francis Pangilinan. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, on the other hand, shouldered the repairs at the CCP.

For his part, House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said that the opposition is one with the government in ensuring the success of the IPU and was quoted as telling President Arroyo to "let us know how we can help." – With Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy, AFP