Cops to observe maximum tolerance on Asean protesters

MANILA, Philippines - The police will observe maximum tolerance in dealing with activists who stage protest actions during the 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila.

“Our policy for rallies is maximum tolerance. I just hope they would also cooperate,” Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said in an ambush interview at the ASEAN Security Task Force command center.

It means that police officers belonging to Civil Disturbance Management (CDM) teams should exercise restraint and only use their truncheons for self-defense.

Even if rocks are thrown at them, Dela Rosa told them to remain on the defensive and use only their shields for protection.

At the same time, Dela Rosa urged organizers of these mass actions to also exercise restraint to prevent violence from erupting.

He added: “They are also Filipinos and would also benefit in whatever benefit the Philippines will receive out of this ASEAN summit.”

The area designated for mass actions against the summit is at the Liwasang Bonifacio near the Manila city hall. They are not allowed to go near the summit venue at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), within Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex in Pasay City.

“They can conduct their rally peacefully. We will not interfere as long as they remain in the designated area,” Dela Rosa said.

All protest actions near the site of the ASEAN summit at the PICC would not be allowed, a police official said yesterday.

Director Oscar Albayalde, head of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said demonstrations should be staged in freedom parks like the Liwasang Bonifacio.

Albayalde said a CDM contingent is on standby and ready to confront any group out to stage protest rallies during the gathering of ASEAN leaders and their delegates at the PICC starting today.

“If their topic or agenda is not that important, we advise them not to stage any protest rally near the PICC as we would not allow them. They would be immediately dispersed,” said Albayalde.

The NCRPO chief said the US embassy along Roxas Blvd. in Manila would also be secured from demonstrators.

So far, the NCRPO intelligence headed by Senior Supt. Eleazar Matta is monitoring leftist organizations and worker groups that might take advantage of the ASEAN Summit and stage protest actions to air their grievances.

Albayalde said the CDM contingent is deployed at the PICC ready to disperse any group out to stage a rally near the summit site to embarrass the Duterte administration. 

PNP chief Dela Rosa is satisfied with the security coverage for the ASEAN summit.

“We still have zero incidents. I hope this will continue,” Dela Rosa told reporters yesterday at the ASEAN Security Task Force command center in Pasay City.

Dela Rosa inspected the police deployment at the CCP complex.

He chatted with police officers belonging to CDM teams and checked if they had enough food and water rations.

Each police officer received P500 worth of meals for one day.

Albayalde earlier reported that 4,000 police officers belonging to CDM teams are hounded by lack of portable toilets and drinking water.

The CCP complex was placed on lockdown beginning midnight Tuesday and would remain in effect until April 30.

This means roads inside the CCP area are closed to motorists and pedestrians and commercial establishments inside were also closed.

Meanwhile, additional security personnel were deployed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals to protect arriving heads of state for the ASEAN Summit.

For the first time, members of the Office for Transportation Security that manned the initial and final security counters of the four NAIA terminals, and their bomb-snipping dogs were assigned to conduct patrols to augment the security forces in helping the Manila International Airport Authority protect visiting foreign dignitaries and officials. 

The OTS units have joined forces with the PNP Aviation Security Group, the lead security unit at the NAIA and the Airport Police Department.

Government agencies have prepared security plans for the ASEAN including the Bureau of Immigration that had designated special counters at NAIA terminals for the speedy processing of travel documents of foreign delegates.