MANILA, Philippines— (UPDATE) A demolition team with three backhoes has started digging up the concrete road surrounding the Philippine Public Safety College in Taguig City at 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday as some 70 employees blocked the school's gate in an attempt to protect the area.

The Department of Interior and Local Government has ordered the PPSC to vacate the premises as Bases Conversion and Development Authority had entered into a joint venture agreement with a consortium of Megaworld Corp. with the conformity of the National Police Commission to develop the 7-hectare area in Fort Bonifacio.

The PPSC head office houses the National Police College and National Forensic Science Training Institute which administers the mandatory courses of the police force.

Pacifico Placido, PPSC Employees’ Association spokesman, said his group is not opposing the eviction but is asking for a relocation site that would be suitable for training purposes.

The PPSC was given by the DILG office of the undersecretary for public safety until November 5 to leave and relocate to a building on Edsa which the PPSCEA declared as unfit for use.

"There is no water supply, the electrical wirings are exposed, and the building is a fire hazard," Placido said.

The DILG has also recommended the relocation of the NPC and NFSTI training facilities to Los Baños, Laguna.

Placido said the building in Laguna has only three classrooms while the college needs 12. He said it could accommodate only 200 people when the PPSC trains an average of 800.

Taguig and Southern Police District police stood by as the backhoes dug up the surrounding area of their school.

"We're just here for police visibility and assistance," Taguig police chief Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan said. He declined to comment on the irony of the police watching the demolition of their training school.