MANILA, Philippines--Employees of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, on Thursday vowed to stand guard to prevent a demolition team from tearing down the facility.

Pacifico Talplacido, spokesperson of the PPSC Employees Association, said they would block the road leading to the school to stop the demolition team from bringing in their heavy equipment.

?We will stand our ground in the absence of a court order. There is no urgency to transfer,? he said in an interview.

The Department of Interior and Local Government earlier ordered the PPSC, which conducts mandatory training for police, fire and jail personnel, to move out by Nov. 5 and relocate to a temporary site in Laguna.

The PPSC compound houses the National Police College and National Forensic Science Training Institute.

While they were amenable to transferring to a suitable relocation site, the school?s 200 workers were strongly opposed to being evicted from the area like squatters, Talplacido said.

?We are not ?informal occupants? as the National Police Commission (Napolcom) has claimed in its letter,? he added.

Of the 7.1-hectare property in Fort Bonifacio owned by Napolcom, PPSC occupies 3.8 ha. In 2008, Napolcom and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority signed a joint venture agreement with a consortia of Megaworld Corp., Empire Land Holdings Inc. and First Centro Inc. for the development of the property.

Different temporary relocation sites had been offered to PPSC but these were rejected because they were considered too small for the facility?s training requirements.