EDITORIAL - Holy Week security

Today, Palm Sunday, signals the start of the Holy Week. For millions in the Christendom, today’s feast commemorated Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem days before his Passion.

In Metro Cebu, today is also the start of the mass exodus of people to the provinces. Once again, the metro would turn into another ghost town as thousands will join the rush to their hometowns where they would prefer to spend the Holy Week with their families.

As in the past, the airport, seaports and bus terminals will be operating at full capacity to accommodate huge volumes of passengers. Due to the heavy human traffic, reports of untoward incidents are not uncommon in these places, the usual hangouts of criminals during rush hours.

Police officials have already assured public security. They said they are augmenting security in areas around the province that are magnets for tourists during the Holy Week.

As they are prioritizing crowded areas such as beaches, churches, grottos and other religious sites, it is premature for police authorities to conclude that everything is under control. It’s undeniable that untoward incidents can happen anytime, even in the most secured places.

However, in fairness to them, the police are more than ready for any form of untoward incidents. For many years, we hardly heard of serious crimes being committed during the Holy Week. This is due to the fact that the police had been throwing every inch of security around the province, especially in hot spots where huge crowds congregate.

But the fact that there were no serious crimes in the past should not be the reason to be complacent.

A small glitch in security that results in the commission of crimes could bring an irreparable damage to peace and order.

In every Holy Week observance, authorities would always face a gargantuan task of providing security. Let us just hope that from today until next Sunday, no untoward incident will occur.