25,000 cops to secure Pope Francis, papal activities

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police will be deploying 25,000 policemen for the much-awaited visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines in January next year.

The policemen will be securing the immediate vicinity of the venues Pope Francis will be visiting during his stay in the country.

Others will be deployed for perimeter and route security detail, according to PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor.

“The PNP is preparing for elaborate security measures for the papal visit as we will provide operational support to the Presidential Security Group and close-in security services to Pope Francis’ entourage,” the police official said.

The papal visit will be from Jan. 15 to 19, 2015, with Pope Francis visiting Tacloban City, the area hardest hit during Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in 2013.

The PNP is part of the committee on security, peace and order, which is made up of 18 government agencies involved in security preparations for the papal visit.

Mayor said the PNP had formed Special Task Force “Papal Visit 2015” led by Director Ricardo Marquez of the Directorate for Operations.

There are two task groups for Manila and Leyte and several subtask groups under the special task force.