Save for the rallies that the police managed to confine in only three areas in Manila, the recently concluded Asean Summit and Related Meetings were successfully staged without glitches, prompting officials to declare it as a “security success”.
No less than Department of the Interior and Local Government Officer in Charge Catalino Cuy called it a “resounding success”, noting how the Filipinos have bonded and worked together just to ensure the security of the delegates, thus, boosting the country’s security image abroad.
“What made our handling of all the Asean-related activities successful was the whole-of-nation approach,” said Cuy, also chairman of the Asean Committee on Security, Peace and Order, and Emergency Preparedness and Response.
“The key was everyone was doing his or her part, with the local government units manifesting their cooperation and assistance in providing all the necessary logistical requirements and augmenting the resources of the national government during the preliminary Asean meetings and the actual summit,” he added.
Even the United States and Malaysia, whose leaders have attended Southeast Asia’s most important gathering, have noticed the excellent planning and execution of the elaborately planned security for the delegates and the events.
“Our American counterparts in security, they are very thankful for the support and assistance given to them in securing their leaders,” Cuy said, referring to the US Secret Service that guarded President Donald Trump.
“And then earlier, when I sent off the Malaysian Prime Minister back to Kuala Lumpur, he was very thankful for a very nice and smooth and secured meeting, particularly in terms of security,” he added.
Planning and prayers
The mammoth security and its execution was a product of a yearlong planning, with even its slightest detail reviewed and rehearsed, according to National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Oscar Albayalde.
It was, indeed, as the government did not only secure the heads of states of Southeast Asia, but even guarded the leaders of the world’s most powerful countries, such as the US, China, Canada, Australia and other states.
At least 33,000 policemen, including augmentation forces from different police regional offices in the country, were deployed to provide and maintain security and safety for the delegates, their routes, venue and billet during the summit.
The policemen formed part of the 60,000-strong government contingent that included forces from the military and civilian agencies that were mobilized for the security of the summit and its related meetings.
While Albayalde, also commander of the Task Force NCRPO, said that the 12 months of security planning and preparations targeted for a “zero incident”, anything can still happen, thus, he prodded his men to ask for divine intervention.
He said the security has been planned at the “extreme and limits” of a “security conscious” human.
“In almost a year of security preparations for the 31st Asean Summit, I believe we have prepared everything. However, one thing that we must not forget to include in our preparedness and readiness is prayer and divine intervention,” Albayalde said.
The NCRPO commander stressed the significance of the power of prayer and God’s grace in order to achieve success in every endeavor.
He also emphasized in his guidance to all deployed policemen for the Asean Summit the importance of teamwork, cooperation, sacrifice, alertness, vigilance and initiative and maximum tolerance.
After turning to his men and to the “Chief Security Above”, Albayalde turned to the Filipinos for support in ensuring the security success of the region’s important meetings.
The police director asked the public “to support and cooperate” on the undertaking. He also encouraged everyone to report immediately any suspicious object, activity, or person so appropriate actions would be taken immediately by the police.
Rallies, protests
As factored in by the police, rallies and protests were held by members of militant groups. As part of the earlier planning also, these forms of public demonstrations were held at bay by the police at the Liwasang Bonifacio, at the corner of Padre Faura and at the foot of Mendiola, all in Manila.
A scuffle marked one of the rallies, wherein dozens of policemen and rallyists were injured or hurt, but officials said it did not dampen the spirit of the Asean or even affected its meetings.
For the first time, the police also used a sonic weapon in the form of a long-range acoustic device (LRAD) in dealing with the rallyists and dispersing them, fishing out condemnations from groups.
A scientist group Agham said the police had used either LRAD 100X or 1950XL model, both of which could elicit up to 149 decibels (dB), way above the 85 decibels that a human ear can tolerate before it is damaged.
Giovanni Tapang, Agham chairman, said targets that are about 50 meters away from the LRAD 1000 “can still be exposed to more than 110 dB, and that exposure at this intensity may still cause permanent hearing damage if it lasts for more than a few seconds.”
Tapang said the use of the sonic weapon was “a manifestation of the increasing fascism of the Duterte administration.”
PNP Chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa, however, defended the use of the LRAD against the rallyists, welcoming even their threats to file charges against the police.
He said he could not just allow the policemen to be attacked.
Still a success
Despite the “encounters” in the streets, Cuy said both the security and the summit itself were a success.
“All in all, we saw the whole nation working as one, shedding off our own personal convenience and comfort, not just to show the world that we are a united people who are ready to overcome any challenge that comes our way, and that ours is a beautiful country that is primed to host and cater to the world’s most important events,” he said.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila, pool
1 comment
Cool, the police is now using sonic weapon in the form of a long-range acoustic device (LRAD). That is painful, when getting closer. You’ll just turn back, while covering your ears.