PNP under full alert status during holiday season

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Saturday said all police units in Luzon and Visayas will be placed under full alert status for the whole holiday season.

In a statement, PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said PNP officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa ordered full alert status from Dec. 15 (Sunday) at 6 a.m. until Jan. 5, 2020 (Sunday).

Banac said security arrangements in Mindanao are already tight with martial law still in effect.

Almost 70,000 police officers and over 150,000 force multipliers will implement the PNP’s Enhanced Managing Police Operations (E-MPO) Strategy to intensify security operations during the Christmas season, as per Gamboa’s memorandum circular “Paskuhan” 2019.

The PNP’s deployment strategy for this year’s Christmas season will cover “community firecracker zones, assistance hubs, places of worship, commercial centers, road safety points, seaports, train stations, and airports.”

Other police officers will be  fielded for “anti-criminality operations, anti-motorcycle-riding suspects and reactionary standby support force.”

Police visibility and patrol operations meanwhile will be heightened for the security of church goers  in the traditional Simbang Gabi (Aguinaldo Masses) which will start on Monday (Dec. 16), Banac said.

All police regional directors have been ordered to tighten the security of night shift police personnel and foot patrol operations and maximize police visibility around churches during Simbang Gabi.

Police units are also instructed to be vigilant on common street crimes including “robbery, theft, mugging, swindling and street gang violence.”

Edited by MUF