PNP on heightened alert status for Labor Day
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police (PNP) is gearing up for the anticipated Labor Day mass actions on Thursday and has placed all its units under the heightened alert status.
Since Tuesday, the PNP have been on heightened alert, setting up security plans to maintain peace and order in view of expected nationwide protests on May 1, a PNP official said.
Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office chief, assured in a statement Wednesday that the police will “extend full cooperation and support” to demonstrators “only within the bounds of the law.”
”We can tolerate lawful expression and peaceful assemblies, but, we will never compromise the rule of law and the right of the majority to feel safe, secure and convenient,” Sindac said.
Similar to previous mass actions, he reiterated that the PNP would deploy Civil Disturbance Management (CDM) personnel to areas of protests.
The police will also observe maximum tolerance but will not hesitate to use reasonable force depending on situations that could spark security threats.
”(But) we are not discounting the possibility that domestic threat groups may take advantage of the situation by staging offensive actions coinciding with the Labor Day celebration,” Sindac said.
Citing “historical data,” the police official said the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) has been known for staging “hostile actions” during rallies.
Sindac specified these actions as “infiltration and agitation in mass actions, sabotage of public assemblies, and armed attacks on isolated government posts and vital installations in the countryside.”
With this, Sindac urged rally organizers to “guard their own ranks against infiltrators and saboteurs” who may take advantage of the Labor Day protests.
“We expect the leaders of these activities to coordinate closely and keep the lines of communication open with police authorities on the ground to ensure the peaceful and orderly outcome of their activities,” he said.
“We assure that there will be no confrontation, no dispersal, and no use of compelling force if only public assemblies are held in accordance with law, and all actions are well within legal bounds,” he added.
Police videographers
As a common police practice, the PNP will send “police videographers” in various protest areas on Thursday.
Their task is to film the activities of the police and the protesters for future use.
“These documentation aims to identify the trouble-makers and anarchists, and whatever incriminating scenes captured on tape may be used as evidence to support investigation and prosecution of cases in court,” Sindac said.
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