Makati Mayor Junjun Binay has asked the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to help train the city’s police.
He met with Los Angeles, California Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the way to joining his father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, in Washington DC.
“We sent him a formal invitation. Since he already planned to visit Asia this year, we also invited him to pass by Makati,” he told this writer.
Makati and Los Angeles have a sister city agreement that goes way back to the administration of Mayor Tom Bradley (1973-1993), Binay revealed.
“We are reviving that,” he explained.
About 16 percent of Filipino immigrants in the United States live in the greater Los Angeles region.
Binay said they want the LAPD’s help for training Makati cops on the latest special weapons & tactics (SWAT), explosives & ordnance (EOD), investigation and other fields of police work.
“If we get help from the city of Los Angeles, it will be a big help in curbing incidents just like the recent bus bombing,” he explained.
Five persons were killed and 14 others wounded when a bomb ripped through an air-conditioned passenger bus in Makati on Jan. 25.
A separate bus bombing killed three persons and wounded 50 others on Valentine’s Day in 2005 near the same stretch of EDSA where the latest bombing occurred.
Meanwhile, the elder Binay downplayed the effects of the bus bombing, pointing out the stock market’s continued robust performance is proof “the trust is there and everyone knows that was an isolated incident.”
Briefing newsmen at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, the vice president outlined steps being taken to protect commuters along EDSA, including posting police check points on bus stops, adding more bus marshals, and installing video cameras on buses.
The LAPD has a counter terrorism and special operations bureau that has its own air support division, K-9 unit and SWAT platoon.
Aside from being the country’s financial capital, Makati also hosts the most number of diplomatic offices in the country.
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