Up to 5,000 cops to be deployed for Labor Day rallies

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police will  deploy  around 4,000 to 5,000 troops in Metro Manila on Labor Day  to ensure that protest rallies by workers and  various  militant groups will be  peaceful.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr said the number of cops that will be deployed on Tuesday will include units from  the PNP’s Civil Disturbance Management.

Cerbo said the police must see to it that protest rallies will be staged peacefully, not just for the safety of its participants, but of the commuting public as well.

The police, he said, are also expected to respect human rights of all Filipinos at all times, with maximum tolerance carried out in handling protesters.

The PNP had earlier invited representatives from the Commission on Human Rights to see for themselves how police operations are being carried out in actual protest rallies.

Cerbo said the PNP units in Luzon and Visayas will remain under heightened alert status, which was imposed since early April this year.