Apec cops who slept in bodegas feted

JUST DESSERTS About a thousand policemen from the provinces don disposable plastic gloves as they prepare to dig in and partake of the feast in a boodle fight set up at Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, their reward for the difficult task of securing the Apec summit this week. LYN RILLON

Welcome to HK Sun Plaza warehouse along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City, the impromptu “hotel” where some 3,000 police personnel pulled out from the Cordillera, Iloilo and Calabarzon regions were billeted during the weeklong Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) event in Manila.

The augmentation forces were hauled into the Metro to help secure the 21 Apec leaders and their staff during the leaders’ meeting on Nov. 18 and 19, and had to make do with improvised sleeping quarters at Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila, and Ayala car park in Makati City, not to mention the HK Sun Plaza warehouse.

“For the country,” Police Insp. Roger Kurt Pacificar said with a grin, of his sixth day living off a bag and sleeping in a warehouse miles away from his home in the Cordilleras. “We’re used to this,” he said, adding that he was also part of the augmentation force during the papal visit in January and had to sleep in a sports complex.

Out of comfort zone

On Thursday, only Pacificar and a handful of policemen were in the makeshift barracks that easily called to mind an evacuation center. Assigned as “quick response teams,” the police were on standby for emergency situations, while their colleagues were deployed along Roxas Boulevard and its intersections, as the Apec event unfurled on its second day at the nearby Philippine International Convention Center.

“We were trained for this,” the police officer said. “Once you leave your house, you’re out of your comfort zone,” he said, adding, however, that he brought with him one luxury item: A mobile Internet.

“To update my status [on Facebook],” Pacificar said, laughing.

“(And) to tell people how many of us had been injured in the rallies!” quipped a fellow Cordillera policeman. One highland policeman was hospitalized on Thursday for heat exhaustion after being detailed on Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati.

Though their food and shelter needs were being met, the Apec deployment was hardly a vacation for Iloilo Police Officer 1 Apol Jean Apolinario, who was also billeted in the warehouse that used to stock used bottles.

“It’s challenging. We have 18-hour duty here,” she said. “We start our days at 6 a.m. and come back at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.” she said, adding that they sometimes had to wake up at 3 a.m. to get a head start on the long lines for the shower room.

Communal facilities

Asked about privacy concerns because of the communal facilities, Apolinario laughed. “That’s nothing to us! We’re used to it.”

More than 20,000 police personnel nationwide had been tapped to secure Apec in Metro Manila, said Police Director Juanito Vaño of the Philippine National Police Directorate for Logistics.

They were well-provided for to make sure they stay “comfortable,” Vaño said, unlike their haphazard deployment during the Zamboanga siege in 2013 when the troops had to sleep on sidewalks.

“This is actually much better. We’ve done all we could and provided all the equipment (needed) for their tasks and missions,” the official said.

For food, some 80 caterers were hired to provide fresh and regular meals for the troops. The caterers were deployed nearby to make sure the meals were served fresh and to avoid possible spoilage, which happened to the packed lunch during the January papal visit.

Other supplies at HK Sun Plaza were newly procured, like the mats and electric fans. Portalets and temporary showers were also set up in the compound, while hygiene kits were distributed to the personnel by some police regional offices. The deployed troops were given flu shots last week.

“This was planned properly,” Vaño said, “although sometimes, you just have to accept that’s all we can provide (and) there are limitations,” he added.

ENDOF APEC DUTY Several Manila policemen deployed around theWorld Trade Center share a light moment and pose for a group selfie or groufie to mark the end of their Apec duty as the last of the global summit leaders left the country on Friday. JOAN BONDOC

Trip to Manila Zoo

“But this time, with the support we are getting and the kind of security that we have, the welfare of our people had been taken care of. This will be an evolving standard of PNP. In coming activities, we will come up with improved [setups],” the PNP official said.

Pacificar, a public safety battalion officer, had no complaints. “We are contented with what we have now. As police, we are trained to accept whatever may come.”

Asked what he would consider an appropriate reward, he expressed hope that they be given time for rest and recreation, “so we can spend time with our families,” he said.

Earlier, Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento authorized one extra day in Metro Manila for the regional police officers to allow them some recreation as some of the troops were in the nation’s capital for the first time.

PNP Director General Ricardo Marquez also told the media that he was serious in offering to treat the troops to a trip to the Manila Zoo.

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