DAVAO CITY — The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) will implement tight security measures in time for the city’s hosting of the Davao Regional Athletic Association (DAVRAA) meet next month.
DCPO Director Sr. Supt. Alexander Tagum said stricter measures would be enforced to ensure safety and security not just of the athletes but also of their parents and spectators.
“We will provide maximum deployment for DAVRAA,” he said.
Tagum said police officers would be detailed in every school which served as the billeting quarters of the athletes and in the playing venues.
“We will ensure that all schools that will be their billeting areas and the playing venues will be secured not only for the participants but also to the viewers and their families who will be coming to our city to enjoy the DAVRAA 2018,” he said.
Random checkpoints are expected in some areas to thwart plans to disrupt the event which the city is hosting for the first time.
Tagum said covert and overt operations would be conducted in the places of convergence especially in the sports venues to prevent some people to commit crimes.
But the DCPO director could not disclose the number of security forces to be deployed during the event.
He assured the public that there will be enough operatives to secure the people and the city.
DCPO which has about 1,900 police personnel, will get support from the Task Force Davao, Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) 11, and other groups as force multipliers.
Around 8,000 young athletes from all over the region will converge in the city for the annual sporting event which is the usual road to Palarong Pambansa.
This is the first for the city to host the regional meet after it was renamed from Southern Mindanao Regional Athletic Association (SMRAA) on 2003.
The event will be on February 17 to 23 but the formal opening rites will be on February 18 at the University of Mindanao Sports Complex in Matina. (Armando Fenequito Jr/PNA)
