With the official start of the rainy season, the Philippine National Police has alerted its 190,000-strong personnel for disaster preparedness and potential disaster response efforts across the country.
“We have prepared our personnel for disaster response,” PNP chief Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde said.
The PNP chief noted that they have acquired additional rubber boats. “We have additional rubber boats, some of which were donated by the local government units,” he stated.
The PNP has over 150 police rubber boats, coastal crafts, fast boats, speed boats, and gun boats or dauntless boats under the Maritime Group.
Albayalde said these watercrafts are being used by the 17 regional maritime units, three maritime special operations units, and maritime police stations nationwide.
To boost its capabilities, the PNP Bids and Awards Committee had approved the procurement of 28 high-speed tactical watercraft totaling P336 million for public safety operations.
“We are also preparing for the conduct of trainings for our personnel on search and rescue operations,” Albayalde said.
Other PNP disaster response-capable units are the elite Special Action Force, Highway Patrol Group, Police Community Relations Group, and Regional Public Safety Battalion.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration announced the official start of the rainy season last Friday.
The Philippines is located within the “Pacific Ring of Fire” which makes it vulnerable to various disasters, including typhoons. (Martin Sadongdong)