MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday assured a sufficient number of officers in playing venues and areas where athletes and staff of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will be staying.
The Philippines, Japan and Indonesia are co-hosts in the Aug. 25 to Sept 10 tournament, dubbed the Olympics of Basketball.
The Philippines will host 15 other nations in the group phase to be held at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan; Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City and the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City.
The Philippine Arena will host the opening ceremony and two matches, including the Philippines-Dominican Republic game, while the MOA Arena will also hold two games on Aug. 25.
The final phase will be also be played at the MOA Arena.
“Ongoing ‘yung ating security preparations para masecure itong parating na FIBA. Marami na rin mga meeting to make sure na everything will be smooth sa paghohost ng Pilipinas ng FIBA at asahan niyo ‘yung deployment hindi lamang doon sa mga engagement areas and venues doon sa mga malalapit and pati na rin doon sa mga billeting areas ng mga players ay sisiguraduhin natin na may mga sufficient police personnnel tayo madedeploy (All the provinces and regions where the venues of games will be, our regional directors will provide sufficient personnel. As I said earlier, not only in the playing venues, particularly in the hotels and billeting areas where they will be staying the players and other staff relating to this FIBA hosting),” PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo told reporters in press briefing held at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Meanwhile, Fajardo said the PNP has started recalling the uniformed personnel it deployed in Northern Luzon last month to assist in the disaster response due to the onslaught of Typhoon Egay.
Fajardo said the decision to recall around 200 cops from the national headquarters was based on the assessment that the situation in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley Region and Cordillera Administrative Region has started improving.
“We are gradually pulling out our personnel there because these affected regions have already started bouncing back,” said Fajardo in the same briefing.
Fajardo said the remaining police forces in the three regions are now focusing on relief distribution. (PNA)
