Cebu City police patrol the grounds of Malacañang sa Sugbu while repairs are ongoing for the presidential visit. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
ADDITIONAL security had been deployed at the Malacañang sa Sugbo yesterday morning for today’s scheduled visit of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Senior Supt. Joel Doria, Cebu City police chief, said a team from the Cebu City Public Safety Company had been deployed at the Malacañang sa Sugbo to beef up security there.
Doria, who inspected the building at past noon yesterday, said a Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team is also assigned there.
Insp. Roy Manguilimotan, deputy head of the Cebu City Public Safety Company, said 12-hour shifts will be taken to ensure security there.
Jonji Gonzales, chief of staff of Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, said repairs on the building have already started. “So far, everything is okay and security is placed well here,” Doria said.
Malacañang sa Sugbo, established in 2004, was Cebu City’s old customs house which then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had refurbished to serve as her official residence whenever she was in Cebu.
In 2013, the building was declared off limits after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake damaged some portions of it.
Gonzales said they are targeting to reopen the building in October this year.