MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police has been placed under heightened alert ahead of All Saints’ Day, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
The PNP has been in heightened alert status since Monday, PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. told reporters in Camp Crame.
This came two weeks before the holiday, which is traditionally observed by Filipinos by visiting their dead.
He said that the National Capital Region, Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 were now under heightened alert while Mindanao, the PNP’s Special Action Force, Aviation Security Group, and their Maritime Group retained their full alert status.
A full alert status will be raised nationwide by October 26 and it will be up to the regional police directors to either retain the alert status or lower it after All Saints’ Day, “depending on their region’s situation,” said Cruz.
This is also meant to curb street crimes following an increase in attacks by motorcycle-riding criminals from 1,565 recorded incidents last year to 1,700 this year.