Iloilo readies 1,022 cops for Dinagyang Fest

MANILA, Philippines -¬ At least 1,022 police personnel will be deployed in Iloilo City to secure the two-day Dinagyang festival this weekend, an online news site reported. Visayas-based The News Today reported that Mayor Jerry Treñas ordered a comprehensive security plan with the expected arrival of tourists. Iloilo City police director Superintendent Eugenio Espejo said provincial police and the Western Visayas regional mobile group, as well as Western Visayas regional police, will form the entire Dinagyang force. He said priority staging areas of the Dinagyang competition include the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand where dignitaries are expected to stay. Police checkpoints to and from the city will be conducted during the festivities. Plainclothes policemen, the military and the entire intelligence community will also be at the venues. For its part, Philippine Coast Guard Iloilo Commander Harold Jarder said they will deploy agents with bomb-sniffing dogs. Jarder also said they will monitor for the Commander Harder said monitoring will be strengthened particularly in the city proper.- GMANews.TV