The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday said the traditional observance of this year’s Holy week has been generally peaceful except for the blast that occurred at the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) last Saturday.
“Yes, observance of Holy Week is generally peaceful,” PNP spokesperson, Col. Bernard Banac told the Philippine News Agency.
Banac attributed the peaceful observance of Holy Week to the strict implementation of the “Oplan Ligtas Sumvac 2019”, the nationwide-coordinated police operations that aim to provide security during the Lenten season and summer vacation.
“Deployment of personnel will focus now on terminals as activities and movement of the traveling public will be more in these areas,” Banac said.
Banac reiterated his appeal to travelers, including those using their own vehicles, to take extra precaution by observing traffic rules and speed limits to prevent vehicular accidents.
He also advised commuters to avoid wearing expensive jewelry and to look after their belongings and constantly check them.
Meanwhile, Col. Alexander Tagum, DCPO director, on Sunday said the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, as he urged everyone not to speculate on the cause of the incident.
“We can’t speculate on what was exploded because presently, a post-blast investigation was conducted by the EOD Team led by Major Garcia of Police Regional Office 11 that supervises the accounting and readership operation inside the stock room of DCPO’s EOD unit,” Tagum said.
PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde earlier said the PNP has deployed 91,000 cops nationwide “for route security target hardening, and security operations in places of convergence and transportation hubs”. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
