Metro safety ‘Legion’ deployed to Bulacan for Iglesia ni Cristo event

MANILA, Philippines–Local government officials in the capital and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will send a team to Bulacan province to ensure the safety of around three million people expected to attend the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) centennial celebration on July 27.

The Metro Manila Public Safety Legion, according to MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino, will be composed of traffic enforcers, rescue personnel and policemen from the 17 local government units (LGUs) in the metropolis. They will be deployed to the Philippine Arena in Bocaue for the event.

“The mission of the Public Safety Legion is to maintain peace and order, implement a comprehensive traffic management plan during the INC event and do postactivity cleanup at the site,” Tolentino said.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the Metro Manila Council (MMC), which is the policy-making body of the MMDA, agreed through Resolution No. 14-010 to formally organize the legion.

They also agreed that each LGU would deploy 50 traffic enforcers, three to five police patrol cars, three ambulances and two dump trucks which would add to the 500 MMDA personnel earlier tasked to assist during the event.

Tolentino said that the group would leave on July 26 and stay there until the following day. The contingent was also expected to work closely with Task Force Sentenaryo formed by President Aquino on July 3 to oversee the INC celebration.

According to Tolentino, the MMDA will also send additional rescue teams, mobile patrol units and personnel from the Metro Parkways Clearing Group and Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group.

The legion is a special team formed by the MMC to assist in big events or major emergency situations.

In November last year, it was deployed to Tacloban City to help in the rehabilitation and recovery efforts after Super Typhoon Yolanda ravaged parts of the Visayas region.