ABOUT 3,000 law enforcers will be deployed to secure 200 delegates to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meetings in Bohol scheduled on the last week of November.
“An interagency meeting will map out the required security preparations,” said Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, Police Regional Office chief.
The police officers are comprised of units from Bohol, the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) and the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office as well as SWAT teams from Cebu City and Mandaue City among others.
Last April, government troops managed to intercept Abu Sayyaf bandits who tried to sneak into Inabanga town a week before the initial Asean summit meetings in Panglao, Bohol.
“After that Bohol incident, we have conducted two Asean meetings and other international conferences in Bohol without any untoward incident,” Espino said.
He also clarified that there are no perceived threats as reported by the Regional Intelligence Division but will still deploy appropriate security.
The 25th Meeting of Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will be held on November 26–27 while the Roundtable Discussion on AICHR Human Rights Declaration will be in Panglao on November 28.
This will be followed by the 2nd AICHR-EU Policy Dialogue on Human Rights on November 29–30 also in Panglao. /USC Intern Steffi Kyle Nolido