The Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) on Monday said security measures for the two major events of the Baguio Flower Festival 2025 are ready for implementation.
BCPO Director Col. Ruel Tagel told the Philippine News Agency they have anticipated the challenges of the past events.
Aside from the traffic enforcers, plainclothes intelligence officers would roam the city.
“We will also deploy anti-theft teams to help ensure that criminal-minded persons will not be able to perpetuate their crimes,” Tagel said on the sidelines of the coordination meeting at the BCPO headquarters.
At least 1,200 officers from the BCPO, regional headquarters, Regional Mobile Force Battalion and other support units will secure the Grand Street Dancing Parade and the Grand Flower Float Parade on Feb. 22 and 23, respectively.
The two parades are the most awaited and biggest events of the monthlong festivities, with an estimated 32,000 in attendance last year.
“We are prepared for the tourists. We will have maximum police visibility to man traffic and bantayan ang seguridad ng mga manonood (ensure the safety of the viewing public),” BCPO public information officer Maj. Mary Grace Maron said in a separate interview.
She added majority of officers would be deployed to the central business district where the main events would be held but there would also be security forces in other tourist spots.
“Police stations will continue to perform their mandates aside from providing police visibility in the barangays (villages),” she said. (PNA)