As the Metro Manila Peace and Order Council chairman, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista underscored on Friday the need to beef up security efforts to deter terrorists’ attacks, criminality and other acts of lawlessness.
He met with National Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde to ensure the metropolis is safe from attacks like the terrorist Maute Group are carrying out in Marawi City.
Bautista also ordered the Quezon City Police District to maximize troop deployment and police visibility to ensure public safety.
“Don’t give terrorists a chance in Metro Manila,” he said.
As provided for under the mayor’s directive, the QCPD is urged to set up additional checkpoints and conduct 24/7 patrolling on foot, on motorcycles and on mobile patrol.
“I am calling on all our constituents, the citizenry, to keep alert if you see, hear and observe something unusual in your cities and barangays,” Bautista said.
He said the public “must not stay complacent and allow terrorists to sow chaos while there are attacks in Mindanao.”
“We will be maintaining the utmost and urgent alertness to make sure that no other threats will come in Metro Manila. We are here to protect all of us, as Filipinos, regardless of religion, whether it be Catholic, Christian, Protestant, Iglesia ni Kristo or with the Islamic faith,” he added.
Ranking police officials led by Albayalde, as well as the chiefs of police of the various cities in Metro Manila, officials of law enforcement agencies, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government were also present in the meeting at the national office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Quezon City.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on Tuesday after Maute bandits laid siege to Marawi City.