The public should not be alarmed by the additional deployment of troops on the streets and instead cooperate with authorities in checkpoints and stop-and-frisk situations, Malacañang said yesterday.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea admitted there would some “inconvenience” in the government’s intensified security measures but assured that constitutional rights of citizens would be respected.
The Palace recently released a three-page memorandum order on the guidelines to military and police in implementing measures to suppress lawless violence under a state of national emergency. Included in the guidelines were lawful warrantless arrests and searches in certain circumstances.
“Huwag naman sila ma-alarma kung sakaling medyo may mga deployment ho doon ang mga sundalo o pulis. Ito ho ay for the protection lang ho ng ating community. They cannot do anything. Wala ho silang maaano, except mag-inspect, magtitingin-tingin ng surroundings,” Medialdea said in a radio interview.
“Kaunting paunawa lang. May kaunting inconvenience dito pero para sa atin din po ito,” he said. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)