Officials ask public to understand why they cannot bring liquids in trains

February 6, 2019

Officials from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) asked for public’s understanding after netizens reacted negatively an order for commuters not to bring any liquids inside  trains.

“Well you see, because of what happened in Mindanao, we don’t want to have a spillover here (in Metro Manila) and we know for a fact that liquid bomb can be placed on water. That’s why international security standards on airports prohibited,” National Capital Region Police Office Director Guillermo Eleazar said in a press conference in Manila, citing the 2000 Rizal Day bombing.

“We are asking for their open mindedness to understand what we are doing. We are not doing this to create inconvenience,” he added.

Eleazar said they cannot afford to risk the security of the 540,000 passengers that will soon get used to this new security measures as the trip from one station to another is not that long.

Though no threats were reported, he said they are not taking the incident in Mindanao lightly.

“We are concerned on the 500,000 passengers that why if we are prohibiting the carrying of water (bottles), just let it. It’s for everyone’s sake,” said Eleazar.

“We are doing everything to improve our target hardening efforts but just the same, our intelligence monitoring in cooperation with other agencies are being enhance so that we can really protect our people in Metro Manila,” he said.

Chief Superintendent Noel Baraceros, director of Center for Police Strategy Management, urged the public to be aware of their surroundings.

“I hope we can have awareness. We can’t assure to check all the the passengers. So if you see a suspicious item, report it to our police assistance desk,” Baraceros said.

Regional Mobile Force Battalion commander Senior Superintendent Joel Consulta said there will be no exemption on carrying any liquid components.

“There will be no exemption because people can see if someone entered with a water (bottle),” Consulta told The Daily Manila Shimbun.

Under the memorandum of agreement signed between the Philippine National Police (PNP)  and LRMC, female police officers will be deployed in every station to deter inappropriate advances or harassment and other incidents within the LRT premises.

According to LMRC President and CEO Juan Felipe Alfonso, this will help female commuters to be more comfortable reporting any kind of harassments.

“We don’t have the exact numbers but we are aware that this is happening in some places,” Alfonso said.

“(It’s) not rampant but we want to avoid it as much as possible,” he added.

Police officers can also ride free that will also help in adding police visibility in the area.

The CPSM partnered with LRMC to enhance public awareness on various modus operandi of criminal gangs, promoting crime prevention tips, sharing PNP recruitment and vacancies and other programs that can help in pursuing their goal of a safer place to live, work and do business in Metro Manila.

“We are confident that through this partnership and strong collaboration with LMRC, we could further improve our services. Through this MOA, the PNP and LRMC further commit better security and safer travel of LRT commuters,” said Baraceros.

The LRMC caters thousands of passenger every day making it a strategic venue of sharing informative materials through posters, tarpaulins, short videos inside the train stations.

Alfonso added that this MOA will benefit a lot of Filipino commuters.

“We hope that threats will be deterred so  our more than 540,000 (passengers) per day will have world class service,” he said.

The MOA was signed at LRT 1- Central Station around 9am. It was attended by key officers from the Department of Transportation, LRMC, Light Rail Transit Authority, selected NCR district directors and chiefs of police. Ella Dionisio/DMS