Manila, March 2 -- Around 700 motorcycle units are set to be deployed to help police officers provide security to tourists, including foreign ones, this March, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday.

"For this month of March, we will be beefing up the mobility capability of our units with the issuance or distribution of 700 motorcycles. We will be targeting our tourist areas," PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said at a press briefing.

He said they are also looking into creating "tourist police units" since under Republic Act No. 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009, the PNP is tasked to establish security forces and police assistance desks in areas of high tourism traffic.

The law also tasks the Department of Tourism to c...