THE just-concluded 36th MassKara Festival was generally peaceful, with zero casualty and no major incidents reported in different areas of Bacolod City.
This was according to Chief Inspector Dianne Catedral, public information officer of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), who said that from October 1 to 19, there were no MassKara-related incidents reported.
There were some petty crimes in Bacolod but they were not connected with the festival celebration, she stressed.
She said about 1,000 policemen and force multipliers were deployed to different festival sites to maintain the peace and order and to ensure the safety of MassKara revelers.
BCPO also successfully implemented the city-wide gun ban with no violators arrested, she added.
Catedral said the BCPO, led by Senior Superintendent Melchor Coronel, was thankful for the cooperation of the entire police station chiefs, Philippine Army, force multipliers, police officers from Police Regional Office-6 and other agencies, which contributed to the peaceful celebration of the MassKara Festival.
She said they are also awaiting the termination and detail orders of the 200 police officers, who augmented the BCPO, so that they could return to their respective units in PRO Western Viasayas.
Filing of COCs peaceful, too
Meanwhile, the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental for the 2016 elections last week was also generally peaceful with no major incidents reported, authorities said.
Catedral said two policemen were assigned at the Bacolod Comelec Office to assist the politicians and to control the crowd in the area.
Senior Superintendent Samuel Nacion, acting Negros Occidental police director, said there were no reported major incidents in different Comelec offices in the province.
Nacion said that he was thankful for the support of the entire police station chiefs and the Comelec officers in the province. (MAP)