5,000 forces for Araw, Ironman

From the Mindanao Times (Mar 13): 5,000 forces for Araw, Ironman

MORE THAN 5,000 combined forces of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and Task Force Davao (TFD) will be deployed to secure the Araw ng Davao celebration and the Alveo Ironman 2018 triathlon event, both happening this month.

In an interview yesterday, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Sr. Insp. Maria Teresita Gaspan said security forces have been already been deployed for the Araw ng Davao celebration.

Gaspan said the maximum deployment of personnel will be on March 15 to 16 because the event’s biggest activities are set on that weekend.

“Then it will go on until March 25 for the Ironman,” Gaspan said.

There will also be an additional deployment from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) and the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) coming from the police provincial offices in the region.

“The neighboring provinces have also shared their additional augmentation,” she added.

Gaspan said the estimated 5,000 forces will be composed of agents from the police and military, volunteer police auxiliary, and other peace-keeping volunteers.

In a separate interview, TFD commander Col. Nolasco Mempin said they have deployed TFD personnel since March 1.

“We have an average of 150 personnel deployed for Araw ng Davao daily events,” Mempin said. “But on March 16, which is the civic-military parade, we will have more than 200 personnel to be deployed.”

He said the TFD security detail will also cover the Ironman event and will go on until Easter Sunday on April 1.

In an earlier interview, Chief Insp. Milgrace Driz, the spokesperson of Police Regional Office (PRO) XI, said agents from the RMFB and PPSC will be augmented as additional security force.

Driz said the PRO XI is already in full alert status on the whole duration of the celebration.

“We must be vigilant,” Driz said. “We need to be aware of the possible things that would happen.”

“We have checkpoints within the entrance and exit points of the region,” she further said.

Driz assured that PNP personnel deployed in the different areas of the city will be courteous to the visitors.

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