PNP gears up security for int'l forum

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) is gearing up for the intensified security preparations for at least four international events in the country, including the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 2017.

Chief Superintendent Ricardo Marquez, PNP Director for Operations, said the security preparations are in full swing also for the 34th ASEAN Association of Chiefs of Police (ASEANAPOL) Conference in Manila this year.

“We are busy with the security preparations for APEC, ASEANAPOL and WEF East Asia Summit,” Marquez said in an interview at the Senate after he attended the public hearing on proposed legislation pertaining to electoral reforms.

The Philippines will host this year's World Economic Forum's East Asia Summit, an extension of the famed WEF meeting of Davos, Switzerland. In 2016, the country will also welcome delegates of the ASEAN Tourism Forum, a meeting that will bring over 1,800 participants including officials from the ASEAN and its dialogue partners (China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India and Russia).

Marquez said the PNP’s security preparations are in full swing, noting that the world’s top leaders will be attending the APEC. “These events are important since many leaders are coming here. We want to ensure their safety,” he added.

The PNP, meanwhile, will be hosting the annual ASEANAPOL conference in May this year.

The Philippines is a founding member of the ASEANAPOL, which held its first conference in Manila in 1981 and has been holding annual conferences since, hosted by member-agencies. The PNP last hosted the 23rd ASEANAPOL conference in Manila in September 2003.

Aside from the Philippines, other national police agencies forces represented in the ASEANAPOL are the Royal Brunei Police Force, Cambodian National Police Force, Indonesian National Police, Myanmar Police Force, Singapore Police Force, Socialist Republic of Vietnam Police, Royal Thai Police, Royal Malaysia Police, and Lao People’s Democratic Republic Police Force.

Also invited to attend the annual ASEANAPOL Conferences are observer delegations from the ASEAN Secretariat, ICPO-Interpol, Australian Federal Police, National Police Agency of Japan, New Zealand Police, Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, and the National Police Agency of the Republic of Korea, and Timor Leste.