Playing Safe For ASEAN Gab: Security beefed up at Surigao ports

SURIGAO CITY — Authorities in Caraga Region have tightened security measures at this city’s two seaports and airport, the nearest, in fact a major gateway to Cebu and to the rest of the Visayas.

Caraga police regional director Chief Superintendent Antonio Dator Nañas said this is in preparation for the Jan. 10-15 Asean and East Asian Summits which will be held in Cebu.

Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Casurra urged motorists and commuters passing the city seaports and even the airport to cooperate with the authorities in the implementation of safety rules for their own good and safety.

Surigao City Port Police Chief Froilan Caturla told The STAR that the Philippine Army’s 30th IB based here in Surigao del Norte have installed bomb, firearms and ammunition sniffing dogs at seaports here which is also capable of detecting illegal drugs.

Cebu City is just 10 hours by boat from this seaport city of Caraga, and is one of the major gateways to the Visayas and Luzon through the RP-Japan Highway. By fast craft it is only five to six hours boat and by plane, it is only 30 minutes.

Siargao island has also its airport, the still unfinished Sayac International Airport in Del Carmen near Dapa town where a major seaport is located is used not only as a transhipment point for traders and passengers but also for local and foreign tourists alike.

The Philippine Army’s 30th IB Commanding Officer Col. Isidro Purisima said no stones are left unturned as far as detailing security measures for the seaports and airports here in Surigao City and in Siargao Island are concerned.

"Said ports are Mindanao’s major entry and exit points to and from Cebu and the Visayas, so we must have to make sure that people who board ships and planes to Cebu are properly checked for their own safety," Purisima added.