Police to send 6,533-strong force to secure ASEAN meet

The Philippine National Police (PNP) will deploy a 6,533-strong security force to secure the delegates to the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and two related meetings in Manila from July 29 to Aug. 2.

PNP Deputy Director General Avelino Razon said all the details on the security preparations for the meetings are now in place.

Razon said that in addition to the police, the security task force also includes elements from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

He said the PNP has not received any threat to the upcoming meetings but it is not taking any chances.

Police patrols have been going on a 24-hour basis around the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) where the meetings will be held.

Sniffing dogs will also be used extensively all throughout the conference.

Since last week, traffic has been rerouted within the vicinity of the PICC complex.

This will be the second time this year that the Philippines hosts a big ASEAN meet.

As chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee, the Philippines also hosted last January the 12th ASEAN Summit at the Cebu International Convention Center in Cebu. The summit, which was postponed for one month because of a weather disturbance, was held without any untoward incident.

The 40th AMM, which will formally open on Sunday, will be attended by foreign ministers of the 10-member states of ASEAN -- Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

This will be followed by the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs) which will be attended by the ASEAN dialogue partners -- Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea and the United States.

Seven other countries--Bangladesh, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste—will join the ASEAN and dialogue partners in the 14th ASEAN Regional Forum.