2,000 police officers pulled out in Batangas

In compliance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s order, the Philippine National Police on Thursday pulled out some 2,000 policemen from Batangas weeks after their deployment to secure communities affected by restless Taal Volcano.

Members of the Camp Crame-based reactionary standby support force who were pulled out were also ordered to undergo medical checkups to ensure that they did not acquire respiratory illnesses from the ashfall blanketing the province.

But local police units and the Calabarzon search and rescue units will continue to secure and help in relief operations in volcano-affected areas, said PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac. —Jeannette I. Andrade