LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) is in full force as its alert status has been raised to “red” in line with the observance of Holy Week.

During the forum “Tongtongan ed PIA” hosted by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on Wednesday, PDRRMO operations officer Vincent Chu said 14 water search and rescue members were deployed to monitor the Lingayen Beach where tourists are expected to flock starting April 14.

“Two teams were also on standby for 24 hours daily in case there will a need to augment or assist the local government units,” he said.

He added their water assets such as boats as well as land assets such as ambulances and trucks are ready.

“We advised the barangay officials especially their barangay peacekeeping action teams to be activated and deployed in rivers or tourist areas in their localities to ensure the safety of the people,” he said.

Chu assured that the water search and rescue teams in the barangays were trained in basic life support, rescue, and first aid.

He added that there are incident command posts composed of PDRRMO, Provincial Health Office, and members of the Philippine National Police at the Lingayen Beach area and the capitol grounds.

The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) is also on heightened alert and augmented its forces for the observance of Holy Week and the rest of the summer vacation this year.

In a recent interview, PPPO information officer, Maj. Katelyn Awingan said the provincial command has issued guidelines to all the chiefs of police in the province to ensure a peaceful and orderly Lent observance.

Awingan said police personnel from all stations in the province will monitor places of worship as well as other areas of convergence, such as tourist destinations and bus terminals.

“Nagkaroon tayo ng augmentation force mula sa ating mobile force company at sa ating mga force multipliers sa mga barangay para mabantayan ang mga lugar na pupuntahan ng ating mga kababayan (We had augmentation force from the mobile force company and other force multipliers in the barangays to monitor areas where people will visit),” she said. (PNA)