BY RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO City – Essential offices at city hall are on alert for the upcoming Holy Week as well as the city police, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and other partner agencies.
Seventeen ambulances will be deployed around the city, particularly in areas people usually flock to, said Darwin Papa, head of the Quick Response Team Division Office, Emergency Operations Center of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO).
Volunteers are on standby and ready to respond to emergencies.
A total of 167 police officers will also be deployed in churches, transport terminals, esplanades, malls, and plazas, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Rene Obregon of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
“May ara kita 57 areas lakip na diri ang Parola, every church sa Iloilo City may ara kita tig-duha ka mga police personnel. Additionally we have places of convergence like plaza, esplanade, sa aton terminals – may police man ini in coordination sa LTO (Land Transportation Office). Sa aton mga malls may i-provide man kita nga police assistance,” said Obregon.
He added that patrol cars, force multipliers and other law enforcement agencies will help the police in securing certain areas.
The Philippine Coast Guard, for its part, said they will not allow small boats to carry passengers.
“Sa aton coastal areas nga may gagmay nga bangka ginabawalan nga isakay ang pamilya, iban nga devotees. Indi sila pagpasugtan magbiyahe pakadto sa Guimaras para mag-intra sa Pagtaltal. May ara kita modernized boats nga magabiyahe, amo lang ina ang gamiton,” said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Bernard Bernasol./PN
