50,000 cops deployed on Luzon for ‘Pedring’ emergency

MANILA, Philippines—Some 50,000 lawmen were deployed by the Philippine National Police in Luzon alone to respond to emergencies brought about by Tropical Typhoon Pedring  as it wreaked havoc on a wide section of the country on Tuesday.

The PNP said it was focusing on coastal areas, where large waves and strong winds posed the biggest danger, as well as along rivers that had swollen, spilling floodwaters into low-lying villages.

“So far, we have been successful in our preemptive evacuations, which is why we have fewer search-and-rescue operations,” PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said.

On Monday, PNP Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome ordered all police regional offices in areas affected by Pedring “to make available all personnel and resources for disaster-response operations.”

The PNP’s sub-committee on disaster management also activated on Monday the National Disaster Operations Center (NDOC) at Camp Crame to coordinate all PNP disaster-response operations at the provincial and regional levels.

Police Community Relations Director Rommel Heredia, the concurrent chairman of the subcommittee, directed PNP regional offices in Northern and Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas and Metro Manila, including the Special Action Force and Maritime Group, to place search-and-rescue teams on standby alert for any contingency.

Heredia also instructed the regional offices to assist civil defense and local government authorities in the dissemination of weather bulletins and geo-hazard warning, and ensure maximum police visibility in affected communities.

PNP line units were also directed to assist the local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee and local government units in providing security at evacuation centers.