MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said that Filipinos had a “generally peaceful” celebration of the Chinese New Year as gatherings were discouraged amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Chinese New Year celebration was generally peaceful,” said PNP chief PGen. Dionardo Carlos in a statement.
“No one is exempted from our health protocol. Just like last January 1, we discouraged the gathering of people since the threat of COVID-19 is still everywhere,” he added.
According to Carlos, some Chinese temples still followed their New Year rituals, but none were open to the public.
He added that while the celebration wasn’t as festive compared to the past years, “the simple celebration still became meaningful because no untoward incident was recorded nationwide.”
However, the police chief said that the PNP continues to monitor public establishments now that several areas, including Metro Manila, have been downgraded to alert level 2.
READ: Metro Manila, 7 other provinces to be under Alert Level 2 starting Feb. 1
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