7,000 cops, soldiers to man Metro checkpoints

About 7,000 combined personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be manning checkpoints in strategic areas in Metro Manila starting today.

National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) chief and former Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the combined police and military elements will be manning checkpoints in full uniform with proper identification , as a deterrent to criminality, particularly kidnapping-for-ransom incidents. They will be positioned in well-lighted areas.

Reyes said 6,000 of the personnel will come from the PNP National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) while the rest will come from the newly-reactivated National Capital Region Defense Command.

Reyes said the AFP will be providing 31 teams of elite soldiers from the 80th Infantry Battalion on special detail with the NCR command.

Each team will be composed of eight AFP personnel.

Aside from setting up mobile checkpoints, hundreds of beat patrol policemen will also be deployed as part of the police visibility scheme in densely-populated areas.

Reyes said police and military elements will be securing malls, bus terminals and other critical places.

"They will be armed with small arms although contingency forces will be in place in case they are needed. They will be on the lookout for suspicious looking persons and vehicles with questionable plate numbers or have no plate numbers at all," he said.

To avoid incidence of abuses, Reyes emphasized that troops manning checkpoints were given strict instructions to be courteous, but firm in conducting security checks.

"We are doing this for the good of the public, so we have to make sure that it is implemented properly," he added.

Newly-designated NCRPO Director Ricardo de Leon said police and military personnel will be deployed in what he termed as "Friendship Centers."

"We want a change in the mindset of the people. This is an investment of good news and goodwill where policemen will not be boastful but friendly to the people as they go on through the beat," said De Leon over radio dzBB.

De Leon explained that the deployment of military personnel at checkpoints is part of the government’s integrated security system.

De Leon said the PNP and the AFP have the same goal: To create an atmosphere suitable for good business and peaceful living.