CLARK FREEPORT – The 500-strong police force of Angeles City will be on full alertto secure some 1,700 participants, including senior economic ministers, in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conferenceto be hosted here from Jan. 26 to Feb. 10.
At the Talk Widus forum of the Pampanga Press Club at the WidusHotel and Resort here, Angeles police director Senior Supt. Eden Ugale said that his entire police force would take turns to ensure daily, 24-hour security for the APEC. “We are now organizing reaction teams for APEC.
We are prepared even for the ex-pected protest actions of militants who are known to hold rallies in APEC gatherings even in other countries,” he said. Ugale stressed,however, that the focus on APEC at Clark would lead to police shortcomings in the rest of Angeles.
“There will be enough policemen in the rest of the city to maintain peace and order,” he said. He noted that apart from the Angeles police, cops from other provinces of Central Luzon are also expected to help augment security personnel for the APEC delegates.
Ugale could not immediately provide more details on security plans for the APEC, saying that the only information officially relayed to him as of the time of the press conference was the date for the APEC meet at Clark. But Ugale said that the decline in the number of crimes in Angeles in the recent months augured well for the APECevent.
“Despite the sensational cases in the recent weeks, the peace and order in the city is now very manageable,” he said. “There has been a downtrend in crimes in he past three weeks after we studied the crime situation so as to redeploy our personnel accordingly. We assess the situation weekly,” he said.
Ugale also reported in decrease of crimescommitted by motorcycle riding-in-tandem criminals after well trained policemen on motorcycles were deployed against them. “Our motorcycle-riding cops have been very effective, especially in zeroing down on illegal drugs suspects carrying out their trade also on motorbikes,” he noted.
