3,000 cops secure Apec meets in Iloilo

ILOILO CITY—More than 3,000 policemen have been deployed in Iloilo City for the holding of meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) starting on Monday.

Insp. Shella Mae Acanto-Sangrines, spokesperson of the Apec 2015 Iloilo City Site Task Group, declined to give the actual number of policemen deployed in the city for security reasons. But she said the number was significantly more than those deployed in the city in July for the workshop on fostering Apec’s infrastructure.

The Philippine National Police announced in July that 3,000 policemen were assigned in the city.

The policemen will be deployed at the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC), the venue of the meetings at the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao District, and at least 34 hotels were delegates and guests are billeted.

Policemen would also be posted along the route of more than 1,000 delegates and other participants from their hotels to the ICC and in sight-seeing tours, according to Sangrines.

Civil disturbance teams have also been prepared for possible protest actions from groups opposing economic policies and programs promoted and being implemented by the Apec.

Founded in November 1989, the Apec is a multilateral international organization which seeks to foster free trade and economic prosperity among its member-economies in the Asia-Pacific region, its website says. It is composed of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

The Apec meetings set in Iloilo include the Small and Medium Enterprise Ministerial Meeting on Sept. 21 to 25, disaster management on Sept. 22 to 23, and on food security on Sept. 28 to Oct. 6.

Aside from policemen, personnel from 19 other government agencies will be deployed including those from the Bureau of Fire Protection, medical and emergency teams, and search and rescue groups.

Sangrines said they were appealing for the cooperation of residents because of the tighter security measures.

She said there could be a slight delay in travel and traffic could be slower due to checkpoints, security checks and public areas and closure of roads leading to the ICC.

“These measures are for the safety and security of everybody and not just the Apec participants,” she told the Inquirer on Sunday. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas