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PNP, BFP to deploy personnel in areas hit by Taal eruption
FILE: Taal Volcano continues to spew ash as shown in this photo taken from Laurel, Batangas on Monday (Jan. 13, 2020). The Philippine National Police remains on full alert status since Taal volcano’s phreatic eruption.
(PNA photo by Joey Razon)
MANILA — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to deploy personnel to help in the affected areas of some local government units due to Taal Volcano’s eruption.
Año said the PNP will send out personnel from the Police Regional Office (PRO) Central Luzon and Bicol Region to the affected areas.
“We have deployed enough PNP and BFP personnel in all affected areas in tandem with the AFP. Kung saan pa kulang (In areas where there is a shortage), we will add more personnel to come from PRO-3 and PRO-5,” he said in a text message sent to reporters.
For his part, PNP spokesman, Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said no police officers from Camp Crame have so far been deployed to disaster-hit areas.
“Sa ngayon ay kaya pa ng PRO 4-A (Calabarzon) ang deployment of personnel doon sa lahat ng mga lugar na naapektuhan ng pagsabog ng Taal [For now, the PRO 4-A can still manage to deploy their personnel in the affected areas due to the eruption of Taal volcano],” Banac told the reporters in a press briefing held at Camp Crame.
A total of 2,000 policemen under the PNP Reactionary Support Force are on standby for deployment.
Meanwhile, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) acting chief, Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas alerted 2,500 police officers in its headquarters, including the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMBF), for possible deployment.
In a press conference Tuesday, Sinas said the reserve force from the NCRPO headquarters would be the first responders.
Sinas also reported that the NCRPO headquarters in Bicutan, Taguig City would serve as storage for the relief goods and other assistance.
The decision was discussed during the meeting with the Metro Manila’s City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (CDRRMCs).
During the meeting on Monday, National Capital Region (NCR) Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Director Romulo Cabantac Jr. said that the NCRPO was asked to put up its headquarters in the area where the relief goods and other assistance could be kept.
“Kung maaari, gamitin namin ang Bicutan as area na ilagay ang aming resources (If possible, we could use Bicutan as a place where we could put our resources),” Cabantac said.
Evacuation has been ordered in two cities and 12 municipalities in Batangas province and nearby towns in Cavite as Alert Level 4 remains over Taal Volcano, which means a hazardous eruption that could happen within hours to days.
