PNP deploys 50,000 cops for storm duty

Some 50,000 policemen were deployed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Luzon to respond to emergencies triggered by Typhoon “Pedring.”

The PNP said it was focusing on coastal areas, where large waves and strong winds posed the biggest danger, as well as rivers that had swelled, spilling floodwaters into low-lying villages.

“So far, we have been successful in our preemptive evacuations, which is why we have fewer search-and-rescue operations,” said the PNP spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr.

On Monday, PNP Director General Nicanor Bartolome ordered all police regional offices in areas affected by Pedring “to make available all personnel and resources for disaster response operations.”

The PNP’s subcommittee on disaster management also activated on Monday the National Disaster Operations Center at Camp Crame to coordinate all police disaster response operations at the provincial and regional levels.

Police Community Relations Director Rommel Heredia, the concurrent chairman of the subcommittee, directed PNP regional offices in northern and southern Luzon, Eastern Visayas and Metro Manila, including the Special Action Force and Maritime Group, to put search-and-rescue teams on standby alert.

Heredia instructed the regional offices to assist civil defense and local government authorities in the dissemination of weather bulletins and geo-hazard warning, and ensure maximum police visibility in affected communities.

PNP line units were also directed to assist the local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee and local government units in providing security in evacuation centers. DJ Yap