One of the challenges faced by the security forces deployed at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Manila is the lack of portable toilets and drinking water.
More than 4,000 police officers, enduring the searing heat to secure roads in Manila for the Asean meetings this week, have not been provided with enough portalets and water supply.
Director Oscar Albayalde, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), discovered this when he inspected the troops — composed of police officers from different units and regions — on Wednesday morning, the first day of the international summit.
“Nakita natin ’yung mga kalagayan ng mga CDM (civil disturbance management) contingents sa iba’t ibang places kung saan sila naka-deploy, particularly along Roxas Boulevard,” Albayalde said in a news briefing at the command center for Asean security. “Kulang na kulang. Baka may ma-heatstroke pa ang members ng CDM.”