Photo courtesy of PNP/Facebook.
More than 7,000 police officers were deployed across Metro Manila on Monday as Manibela began a two-day transport strike over rising fuel costs and other concerns affecting public utility vehicle drivers.
The National Capital Region Police Office said personnel were positioned at protest areas, major roads, checkpoints and transport corridors, with 491 officers assigned to civil disturbance management and another 1,306 placed on standby.
The security plan also included 302 members of the Reactionary Standby Support Force and 11 drone operators tasked with monitoring crowd movement and developments during the protest.
For traffic and perimeter operations, the NCRPO assigned 126 officers to traffic assistance, 457 to checkpoints and 355 to border control points.
Police visibility was also increased through 1,542 foot patrol personnel, 1,344 mobile patrol officers, 1,068 motorcycle patrol personnel and 635 officers stationed at fixed posts.
Manibela announced the strike after another steep fuel price adjustment took effect last week, when gasoline rose by P4.69 per liter, diesel by P5.18 and kerosene by P5.58.
The transport group has also raised concerns over fuel subsidy implementation and the lack of action on its fare increase petition, while another round of pump price hikes is expected on Tuesday.
The protest is scheduled to continue through Sept. 15, with police saying security and traffic operations will remain in place while the strike is ongoing.