Intelligence gathering on terror threats stepped up

Director General Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered Wednesday his men to intensify intelligence-gathering to deny terror groups from launching attacks during Holy Week.

Dela Rosa said that so far, the police intelligence community has not received any report of terrorist threats.

“There have been no validated reports of terrorist threats in Metro Manila while security forces and the intelligence network are continuously monitoring and doing their jobs,” he said.

Dela Rosa said he has placed all police forces under full alert.

He said 32,637 police personnel were tasked to man 4,546 Police Assistance Centers and were deployed in strategic locations along major roads, travel routes, and sea air and land transportation terminals.

In Metro Manila, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has earlier deployed 11,871 officers to secure all vital infrastructure, convergence points and commercial centers for the duration of Lent.

The policemen will be augmented by 500 soldiers and 100 reservists and more than 20,000 force multipliers composed mostly of barangay tanod and security guards.

Based on the latest monitoring, five drowning incidents, two vehicular accident, and a sea mishap in Region 13 have been recorded.