PNP ready for Thursday transport caravan protest
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police on Wednesday said it has laid out their security plan for the nationwide transport caravan protest of militant groups and other organizations Thursday against the continuous increase of oil prices, its spokesman said.
Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said 5,000 police officers from the National Capital Region Police Office and National Headquarters in Camp Crame will be deployed to different locations in Metro Manila early Thursday to assist the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in ensuring safety and security in areas that will be affected by the caravan protest led by transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide, or Piston.
Militant groups are set to converge around 7 a.m. on Elliptical Road in Quezon City before trooping to the office of oil firm Chevron in Ayala Avenue in Makati City where they will hold a protest rally.
But aside from Manila, similar protest actions will be staged in Santiago, Isabela, Baguio City, San Pedro in Laguna, Legaspi City, Iloilo City, Roxas City in Capiz, Mandaue City, Cebu City, Dumaguete City, Bacolod City, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City, and Davao City.
Cruz Jr. said Deputy Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr., the PNP Directorate for Logistics, has been tapped to assure the availability of all police buses, trucks, and troop carriers to assist commuters who will be affected by the protest.
The PNP leadership has also instructed local police commanders to initiate dialogue with transport groups’ leaders for an effective coordination of the movement of motorcades and marchers and other mass actions, he said.
Also, all Luzon-based Police Regional Offices have been ordered to place their respective Civil Disturbance Management contingent on the highest state of operational readiness to respond to any contingency.
He said the PNP assures the leaders and organizers of Thursday’s mass action of “appropriate police assistance by police ground units to ensure the peaceful and orderly activities by participating transport groups.”
He said, however, that PNP cautions mass action organizers and participants from resorting to coercion and violence in holding their activities.
Cruz Jr. said “any activity bordering on anarchy and violence will be addressed with the appropriate police response.”
“Illegal assembly, obstruction of traffic, street bonfires, unruly behavior and coercion of unsympathetic drivers are specifically prohibited and will be dealt with accordingly,” he added.
