By Aaron Recuenco
This early, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is now drafting security plans for athletes and venues of some of the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) sports that would be held in Metro Manila.
New Clark City Sports Complex. (Photo courtesy of the official Facebook account of 2019 SEA Games / MANILA BULLETIN)
NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said they have already started meeting with SEAG officials, particularly the Metro Manila cluster or those who would be in charge of the 22 sports that would be held in the metropolis for the biannual games.
“We have talked with those who belong to the Metro Manila cluster of the SEA games. We have set up our deployment plan and we still have a series of meetings that will be conducted as the date of the games approach,” said Eleazar.
“All police commanders will also attend brainstorming sessions for the events,” he added.
The Philippines will host for the fourth time the SEA Games from November 30 to December 11 this year.
Initially, the NCRPO plans to deploy 14,800 policemen to secure all the delegates who would compete for all the sports that would be held in Metro Manila.
At least 12 venues were chosen to hold the 22 sports.
Aside from Metro Manila, other areas where SEAG sports would be held are Laguna, Bulacan, Tagaytay, Subic, and New Clark City sports complex in Capas, Tarlac.
According to the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), over 10,000 athletes from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, Singapore and Vietnam will participate in 543 sports events.
Eleazar said they are banking on the success of various international events that were held in the Philippines.
“We are confident that we can provide security and we can make adjustments because of new protocols and we are also banking on our experience in handling several international events before,” said Eleazar.