The police and security forces are now implementing stricter security measures around the San Pedro Square after the Sangguniang Panlungsod declared the area a “maximum-security zone” being the site of major events of the city.
Councilor Mabel Acosta, the Chairperson of the Committee on Security, said the declaration was the adoption of a resolution pushed by the Task Force Davao (TFD) during a recent City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) meeting.
“It came out from our CPOC meeting that we should declare San Pedro Square as a maximum security zone since it is where the big events happen and where the main establishments of the city, such as the city hall, the Sangguniang Panlungsod building, and the San Pedro Church are located,” Acosta said.
In the resolution, the maximum security zone is defined as an area to which access is controlled through an entry point and limited to authorized, appropriately screened personnel and authorized and properly escorted visitors, and monitored 24 hours a day and 7 days a week by peace-keeping forces.
TFD Commander Colonel Consolito Yecla said that under the maximum-security zone, all garbage bins and other containers should be transparent.
“If the garbage bins are transparent we can easily identify if some elements planted an explosive in there. This is to easily secure the entire area,” Yecla said.
He said carrying of backpacks and wearing of jackets are regulated only during major events and celebration of masses at the cathedral.
“The no backpack policy will be implemented during events such as masses, Kadayawan, and Araw ng Davao. The no jacket policy does not mean that you can no longer wear a jacket, what they need to do is to take off their jackets during inspections,” he said.
Yecla added that the measures will be implemented to prevent any suicide bombing incident. CIO
