Public Assistance Centers for travelers to be activated Tuesday next week, says PNP

By Ronron
March 14, 2008

As part of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Oplan BANTAY LAKBAY this year, all public assistance centers in the different parts of the country will start to be put up this coming Tuesday.

PNP spokesman Sr. Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said the public assistance centers will be seen in the Northern Luzon Expressway, Southern Luzon Expressway, airports, seaports, bus terminals, and other highways in the country “to ensure that all motorists and vacationers will be safe during their travel to their respective provinces.”

“This OPLAN Bantay Lakbay is not necessarily for the Holy Week only. We will also use this for the rest of the summer period, like the observance of festivals in May and the trip of students,” Bartolome said in a news conference at Camp Crame Friday.

He said the public assistance centers will be activated at the start of 5pm Tuesday, although they will already start to deploy policemen to some bus terminals, airports and seaports in Metro Manila this weekend if the passenger influx turn out to be more than the normal size.

Asked how many public assistance centers in all will be established, Bartolome said: “All police stations will each have their respective public assistance centers. They will be deployed on necessity to the streets.”

The said centers, Bartolome said, will be tasked to assist problems in traffic, of vehicles, and accidents, among others. As such, the centers will be comprised of elements not just from police, but also from local government units, non-governmental units, volunteer organizations, radio communication groups, and others.

Similar centers will also be put up in tourist destinations, said Bartolome, to ensure the security of local and foreign tourists.

When asked if this means all policemen will be on duty during the Lenten break, Bartolome said: “During the Holy Week, we will be on normal alert status unless there is a need to upgrade. This will give our policemen the chance to observe the Holy Week too.”

While he assured that policemen will also patrol at residential communities during the holiday, Bartolome appealed to the public to also take their own security measures when they leave their houses.

Aside from ensuring that their vehicles are in good condition for their trip, Bartolome advised the public also to lock their houses tight, unplug their electrical gadgets, and if they can, ask their neighbors to look after their houses from time to time./DMS