PNP: 18,000 cops deployed for Undas

MANILA, Philippines — Over 18,000 Philippine National Police personnel will be deployed to secure the observance of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, the PNP announced yesterday.

At a press briefing at Camp Crame, PNP public information officer Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said the deployment is composed of 18,132 police personnel who will secure cemeteries, transport terminals, major thoroughfares and other places of convergence.

Of the number, 12,540 are National Capital Region Police Office personnel, 1,885 are members of the Bureau of Fire Protection, 2,450 are force mutipliers and 1,257 are personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Police said 76 cemeteries and 58 columbaria in Metro Manila would be monitored.

With the expected influx of people ahead of Undas, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil ordered field commanders to deploy personnel in transport terminals and roads to secure travelers.

Police will also conduct routine patrols in residential areas as the PNP expects more people traveling to the provinces for the Undas break.

Police advised the public not to document their trips on social media to avoid alerting criminals that they have left their houses unattended.

“If they have the budget, homeowners can purchase closed-circuit television cameras to secure their homes,” Fajardo said.

As part of the PNP’s security measures, Fajardo said the “Revitalized Pulis sa Barangay” would be intensified.

Under the program, police and barangay public safety officers work together in securing communities.— Daphne Galvez