PNP now ‘100% ready’ for Pope Francis visit; gun ban on civilians set

A photo of Pope Francis stands in front of a Philippine national flag as preparations for his visit continue at Manila’s Rizal park, Philippines, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. AP

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police is 100 percent ready for the much-awaited visit of Pope Francis to the country this week, as government agencies fine-tune security arrangements for the historic event.

Over the weekend, the PNP ordered its policemen for an accounting of personnel before they are deployed to the venues where the Pope will have his public engagements.

“The PNP is ready for the papal visit. The mobilization of our personnel is already ongoing,” said the PNP spokesperson, Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor.

On Monday or three days before Pope Francis’ arrival in the country, the PNP will be on full alert, which means that all leaves of its 150,000 personnel are cancelled.

The PNP will be part of a dry-run of the papal convoy, which will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, to fine-tune security preparations for the papal visit and ensure that it will be peaceful and orderly, according to Mayor.

In the months prior to Pope Francis’ visit, the PNP has remained mum about the details of the security preparations.

Mayor said the papal visit has turned out to be more challenging to secure than the state visit of United States President Barack Obama in April 2014, because of the millions expected to flock to see the Pope.

“The dry run on Monday is for us to be able to evaluate the security preparations for the papal visit,” the police official explained. The PNP is deploying 25,000 policemen for the papal visit.

The dry run of the papal convoy will be from Villamor Airbase in Pasay City to the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila, where Pope Francis will be staying during his Philippine visit.

The convoy will run through Andrews Avenue, Roxas Boulevard and Quirino Highway.

Pope Francis will arrive in the country on January 15 and will stay here until January 19, during which he is expected to have several public engagements in Manila and in Leyte.

His visit is expected to draw millions particularly at the January 18 mass at the Quirino Grandstand.

Earlier, the PNP warned the public not to bring firearms to the venues of the papal visit, saying they may be charged under the gun control law for bringing guns to places of worship.

The nine areas where the no-firearms policy will be observed are: the Nunciature Area in Taft Avenue, Manila; Malacañang Palace; Manila Cathedral; SM Arena, Mall of Asia; Villamor Airbase, Pasay City; University of Santo Tomas; Quirino Grandstand; Tacloban City, Leyte; and Palo, Leyte.

On-duty members of the PNP, Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies are exempt from the prohibition, provided that they are part of the papal visit security deployment.

Meanwhile, Mayor appealed to the public to exercise discipline during the papal visit, particularly in the venues where crowds would mass up.

“Following security regulations would be a good example to set as a devotee,” he said.