Monday, the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) of the Philippine National Police will pull out its personnel manning traffic along Epifanio Delos Santos Ave. (EDSA) and deploy them to other problem areas, a police official said on Tuesday.
HPG Director Chief Supt. Antonio Gardiola, who is also the head of the Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (IACT), said their personnel will man traffic on C5 Road, Commonwealth Avenue and all roads leading to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The HPG will also train other members of IACT, particularly those deployed by local government units.
“Sa ngayon po nasa pag-oorganisa na po kami nitong mga local enforcers para ma-integrate natin. Itong mga enforcers e mga civilians po, kailangan po talagang i-organize sila para magkaroon ng command kasi sa HPG may training ang mga tao natin sa military and police so i-impart po namin ‘yung knowledge naming (We are now organizing local enforcers for their integration. These are civilians that is why they have to be organized under one command because our personnel from the military and police have been trained so we will impart our knowledge to them),” Gardiola said.
The police official said the 300 HPG men are not enough thus they have to train the personnel of other agencies including local government units.
“Since na-organize na po natin ang integrated enforcement system sa EDSA, lilipat naman po kami sa other sectors para maumpisahan po namin ‘yung pag-organize sa kanila. Special case po itong NAIA dahil ito po ‘yung madalas makatanggap ng reklamo lalo na ‘yung mga kababayan natin na galing sa ibang bansa, mga foreigners na dumadating (Since we have organized the integrated enforcement system in EDSA, we will move to other sectors so that we can organize other teams. NAIA is a special case because we receive so many complaints from there),” Gardiola said.
In September, HPG personnel were deployed to enforce traffic rules in EDSA and other thoroughfares.