The 4000-strong Cebu-Bohol Security Task Group (STG) for the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meeting on trade matters held in Bohol will be deployed in the province on Wednesday.

According to Police Regional Office (PRO-7) director Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, a sendoff ceremony for the security forces assigned to guard the ASEAN event will be conducted in Panglao tomorrow.

Taliño who is the overall commander of the ASEAN STG in the region said that the 4,000 security and emergency personnel will be stationed at various key areas in Bohol to secure around 200 ASEAN senior officials.

The personnel will come from 21 national government agencies including the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection and the Philippine Coast Guard, among others, added Taliño.

High-ranking officials of the ASEAN National Organizing Committee are also expected to attend the sendoff.

According to Taliño, the task group’s main goal is to have zero ASEAN-related incidents during the course of the delegates’ stay in the province until Saturday.

Augmentation forces from Cebu including those from the PRO-7 arrived on Sunday bringing with them security vehicles.

Previously, the PRO-7 chief also said that areas near the Henann Resort in Panglao where the meeting will be held and other key areas will be declared “no sail, no fly zones.”

The ASEAN delegates will be pushing through with trade negotiations and other meetings in the province after a security scare last week due to the presence of Abu Sayyaf bandits in Inabanga.

However, the threat was immediately quelled by government troops who intercepted the militants and contained the incident at a remote village in Inabanga which is roughly 60 kilometers from Panglao where the ASEAN gathering will be held. (Rey Tutas)