AFP brings in troops and tanks from Tarlac for Metro Manila security

By Ronron
February 15, 2008

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) brought in on Friday morning in Metro Manila a company-size of troops and several tanks from a military camp in Tarlac province to help the National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM) respond to contingencies when requested by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

NCRCOM spokesman Capt. Carlo Ferrer said the elements and assets of the 1st Armored Company of the Philippine Army’s Light Armored Division arrived in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City in two batches – the first at 1am, and the second at around 11:30 am yesterday.

They consist of 95 personnel, three V150 tanks, three Simba tanks, two Scorpion tanks, one humvee and one six-by-six truck.

“One company of Armored unit coming from the Light Armed Division of the Philippine Army based in Camp O’ Donnel, Capas, Tarlac will be augmenting the NCRCOM, AFP for its operational readiness to ensure that the socio-economic and political activities within NCR will continue to be unhampered and to enable the populace to feel secured,” Ferrer said.

“The arrival of said armed unit will reinforce forces of NCRCOM, which is on red alert status primarily because of the reported CPP/NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) and other threat groups’ planned activities within NCR. Said forces are available just in case the NCRPO will request for augmentation,” he added.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr. said the NCRPO has set aside 2,000 policemen to secure the anti-Arroyo rally in Makati City from 4pm until 8pm yesterday.

The police and military had said that suspected communist rebels reportedly plan to infiltrate the rally, prompting the NCRCOM to raise the alert level to highest status 7pm of Wednesday.

The NCRPO and the rest of the police regional offices followed at 5pm Thursday by going on heightened alert status.

NCRPO chief Dir. Geary Barias said that as of 5:30 pm, the rally was very peaceful and orderly.

The strength of the rallysists, according to Barias, reached a peak of 8,000, although Renato Reyes, Secretary-General of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), one of the rally organizers, said the participants reached close to 12,000, much higher than their expected of 5,000.

Earlier in the day, Razon belittled the possibility that the rally was going to transform into something like the 1986 People Power Revolution and the 2001 People Power Revolution that resulted to regime change.

“No. I think the people are already fed up with it, and they just want the country to move on and for our economy to strengthen, for people to have job, and for our country to progress. People Power and coup d’ etat will just detract our moving forward,” he told reporters at Camp Crame./DMS