CEBU, Philippines - Police Regional Office 7 director, Chief Supt. Danilo S. Constantino has placed the entire Island of Cebu under full alert status starting yesterday midnight while the rest of the region remain on heightened alert status as part of the Sinulog security preparations.
He said that he is expecting millions of people to come to Cebu for the annual Sinulog Festival prompting him to deploy additional police officers on the ground.
“We also requested the availability of our new recruits, those who just took their oaths as well as those PNP personnel who are undergoing training to be also augmented to Cebu City for the security preparations,†Constantino said.
The PRO-7 chief said he will augment additional 500 new police recruits to Cebu City Police Office to keep up with the crowd.
“Five hundred plus on the day itself, habang dumadami ang tao dadami ron ang idedeploy natin,†he added.
On the security preparations, Constantino said they are doing fine and that they have not received any major incidents related to the observance of the Sinulog Festival.
“So far we are doing fine, we are doing good, wala tayong recorded na major incidents na related sa observance and celebration ng Sinulog festival, so far hindi pa ito ang major activities,†he added.
Though are prepared, Constantino is hoping for a peaceful Sinulog.
“We cannot predict what will happen we are expecting the unexpected, we are preparing to deal with it, hopefully wala na man sana,†said Constantino.
Constantino has reminded the public to be always vigilant against unscrupulous individuals who might take advantage of the celebration despite assurance of police augmentation force that could neutralize pick-pocketing.
“Expected na maraming magti-take advantage ng celebration ng Sinulog festival dadayo talaga yung mga mandurokot, pero yung mga deployment ng PNP personnel ma-lessen ang incident ng pick-pocketing,†he added. (FREEMAN)