By Aaron Recuenco
Close to 20,000 personnel from various government agencies will be deployed to secure the Philippine’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG), a ranking police official said Sunday.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) P/Maj. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar
(PHOTO FROM PIO NCRPO / FACEBOOK / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The SEAG will be held from November 30 to December 11 this year.
The troop deployment, however, is only for Metro Manila, one of six sports venues where about 10,000 athletes from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, Singapore, and Vietnam will compete.
Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, the former Metro Manila police chief who help craft the initial security plans, said that aside from the police, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) and the military through its Joint Task Force National Capital Region will also be sending their respective personnel.
“Based on the discussion, there will be at least 12 sports venues in Metro Manila. There are also some 24 hotels where the athletes and sports officials of would be billeted,” said Eleazar. “Security-wise, all the venues are now ready for the 30th SEA Games as per the results of the Security and Survey Inspection (SSI) conducted by respective chiefs of police and station commanders,” he added.
Aside from Metro Manila, the sports competitions will also be held in Laguna, Bulacan, Tagaytay, Subic, and New Clark City sports complex in Capas, Tarlac.
“We are confident that we can provide security and we can make adjustments because of new protocols. In the past, we secured heads of state. This time, we will secure athletes and another set of protocols is required during the actual activity,” said Eleazar.
But with his promotion as Chief of the PNP Directorial Staff, all security preparations will now be handled by Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, the newly-installed National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) police chief.