OFFICIALS and members of northern Mindanao’s peace and order council met here on Tuesday even as authorities in places surrounding the region continued to be on a heightened alert status because of threats of bomb attacks.
In Gen. Santos City, authorities went on with intensified security measures days after the Sept. 16 explosion that left eight people wounded. Chief Insp. Jovenson Bayona, operations chief of the Gen. Santos police, said the entire area remains under “Alert Level 4” as earlier set by the local crisis management committee.
Mayor Oscar Moreno said the Regional Peace and Order Council meeting here tackled the series of bomb attacks in other Mindanao areas, and that members of the Council wanted to know exactly what the military and police in the region are doing to prevent similar attacks from being carried out here. Moreno is the chairman of the northern Mindanao’s RPOC.
Military and police officials assured the Council that security measures are in place in Region 10.
Here, the Task Force Oro has been mobilized to thwart any effort to stage attacks similar to what happened in Basilan, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, and Gen. Santos City, reported DxIF-Radyo Bombo yesterday.
In Gen. Santos, the local peace and order council, headed by Mayor Ronnel Rivera, decided to continue with the alert status and the enhanced security measures following an assessment on Tuesday.
“We’re currently working with our barangays to improve the implementation of the security measures,” he said in an interview over local television show Magandang Umaga South Central Mindanao.
Bayona specifically cited the city-wide curfew, which was first implemented Wednesday last week.
The curfew, which covers all residents and visitors, was set from 12 midnight to 4 am in Gen. Santos’ central business district and 10 pm to 4 am in other areas.
Police said they were set to meet with the Gen. Santos’s 26 barangay chairpersons to set other necessary arrangements in line with its ongoing implementation.
Bayona cited concerns of business establishments, including tuna canning plants, operating on 24-hour basis and employees who were assigned in work shifts within the curfew hours.
“We will discuss and set measures to ensure that the operations of these establishments and the movements of their workers will not be hampered,” he said.
Meantime, Chief Insp. Bayona said the police would also continue with the strict implementation of the “No ID, No entry” policy in the four main entry points of Gen. Santos.
He said motorists and commuters are required to present government-issued IDs at the checkpoints of the city police and the Army-led Joint Task Force Gensan.
Those who would not be able to present any valid ID would be subjected to questioning and sign the checkpoint’s logbook, he said.
“This is to properly monitor all individuals who are entering the city,” he added. (with reports from Mindanews)
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