MPD anti-riot cops tasked to rescue flood victims

MANILA, Philippines - Civil disturbance management (CDM) personnel of the Manila Police District, who are the frontline of defense during rallies and demonstrations, shall be tapped for search and rescue operations during floods in the city, according to a police official.

The training of search and rescue policemen is part of the agenda of National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Roberto Rosales to save lives and properties during typhoons and other calamities, according to Superintendent Nelson Yabut, chief of the MPD’s District Public Safety Management Battalion.

Yabut briefed yesterday 139 CDM personnel, who were grouped into three battalions, of their duties and responsibilities in times of calamities. “We have to be prepared now that the weather bureau is expecting 11 typhoons to hit the country this year,” he said.

According to Yabut, he does not want a repeat of what had happened when typhoon Ondoy hit the metropolis last year. Unlike Marikina and Pasig, which were heavily devastated by Ondoy, Manila suffered only few casualties on those people living in the low-lying areas in the city.

Though the NCRPO has several search and rescue boats to rush to grief-stricken areas in the metropolis during typhoons, Yabut called on the city government to purchase at least six rubber boats for quick response to residents and commuters caught in floodwaters.

“Manila is reportedly sinking below sea level and has many flood-prone areas, which have become difficult for motor vehicles to reach during heavy rains,” Yabut said. Residents of Isla Puting Bato in Tondo, a reclaimed strip of land in Manila Bay, are usually evacuated during typhoons.

Yabut is also asking that the search and rescue policemen be equipped with emergency kits, swimming vests and tree-cutting equipment which will be useful in reaching to devastated areas.