TWENTY-FIVE people died, while 56 others were injured in vehicular and drowning incidents that transpired during the Holy Week break, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

In its report, from March 25 to April 1, 14 of the 25 people died due to drowning in Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Mimaropa (Misamis, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), while the 12 died in vehicular accidents in Ilocos, Calabarzon and CAR.

Meantime, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald dela Rosa said the just concluded Holy Week break was generally peaceful, noting that aside from isolated cases of vehicular accidents, sea mishaps and drowning incident, the police did not monitor any serious incident that threatened the general peace and order and internal security.

He said over 33,000 policemen were deployed, while more than 5,000 police assistance centers were installed in strategic areas to assist the public and to maintain security and peace and order during the Holy Week holiday.

Dela Rosa said the PNP, for its part, recorded 39 drowning incidents and 10 vehicular accidents, while police rescue units responded to three sea mishaps in Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions.

He said that from March 26 to April 1, 16 internal security incidents, including series of skirmishes between government troops and the New People’s Army (NPA) and other criminal elements, transpired in the Mindanao and Luzon.

Dela Rosa said the NPA, in particular, did not succeed in trying to destroy the peace and order especially during the communist rebels' anniversary celebration on March 29.

He said the PNP will remain on full alert status for the summer vacation when families are expected to go on vacations in provinces.

“I have delegated the authority to declare the alert level sa aking mga regional directors sa aking mga subordinates regional commanders sila na mag-determine kung tingin nila kailangan i-extend dahil marami pang tao sakanilang area pwede nila iextend kung okay na they can downgrade the alert level to normal depending on assessment on their areas of responsibility,” he said. (SunStar Philippines)