MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) is considering not holding Christmas parties for this year and will instead donate the funds intended for the celebrations to response efforts against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“First of all, I am contemplating no Christmas party for the PNP. They will understand that. Instead of giving the funds for Christmas party, we will give it out for COVID patients or maybe for the COVID fund,” PNP chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan told reporters at the sidelines of the inauguration of the Civil Security Group’s satellite office in Manila on Wednesday.
“Secondly, we have the Food Bank. The Food Bank is there with a lot of sponsors for the PNP. If ever in December we are still in GCQ (general community quarantine) or MGCQ (modified general community quarantine), at least we have the Food Bank. We will go around, we will be able to distribute food. That is coming from PNP and sponsors,” he added.
Cascolan added that the PNP will “rationalize” its deployment of forces during the Christmas season, adding police officers should be prepared for possible upsurge in crime and even the occurrence of terrorism activities during the holidays.
“When we say proper deployment of forces and resources, kailangan natin ‘yung mga lugar talaga na kailangan ang mga pulis. Hindi lang ‘yung basta bastang ilagay mo ang pulis diyan. Dapat alam din ng pulis kung ano ang ginagawa niya, ano rin ang hinahanap niya,” he said.
(When we say proper deployment of forces and resources, we should consider the areas that really need the presence of police officers. We should not merely place police officers in just any area. They should also know their purpose there.)
“You know what Christmas really means. There might be an upsurge in criminality or even terrorism that’s why we need to be prepared for all of these things,” Cascolan said.
On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Christmas parties will be prohibited in Metro Manila and in other areas under a general community quarantine. He added that Metro Manila mayors have also agreed to place the region under GCQ until the end of the year.
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