DAVAO City Police Office to deploy 7,000 personnel for the Pasko Fiesta celebration in December 2022.
DCPO Spokesperson Catherine dela Rey said in an interview with Davao City Disaster Radio that out of the 7,000 personnel, 600 of them with auxiliary will be deployed in the 41 churches in the city for the Simbang Gabi on December 16, 2022.
“Basin matingala mo nganong daghan, kay ang pinakadako nato nga deployment na part sa Pasko Fiesta is katong ‘Pahalipay sa Taal’ karung December 25, 2022, kay gina-expect man gud nato nga daghang tao ang modugok ato nga activity (We are going to deploy a lot of personnel due to the Pahalipay sa Taal on December 25, 2022 since we are expecting an influx of Dabawenyos who will line-up for this event),” Dela Rey said.
Pahalipay sa Taal is a yearly gift-giving tradition of the Duterte family at the ancestral house of former President Rodrigo Duterte located on Taal Road, Central Park Subdivision in Barangay Bangkal, Davao City. This tradition was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Mao ni siya ang pinakadako nato nga gipangandaman (This is the biggest event that we are preparing for),” Dela Rey said.
In the previous interview, on November 2, 2022, Brigadier General Benjamin Silo Jr., Police Regional Office-Davao Regional Director initially said they will deploy at least 95 percent of their personnel to ensure the safety of the Davao Region.
“I-ma-maximize po namin, ang basic principle talaga na sinusunod ng PNP (We will maximize our available personnel. The basic principle of the PNP that we follow) is 85 percent will be deployed outside while the 15 percent will be doing the administrative works,” Silo said.
Also, he said they will utilize the Regional Mobile Force to ensure peace and order during the Christmas celebration in the region.
“Makikita niyo na even in the malls na dadami ang presenya ng kapulisan at sisiguraduhin namin na mahabol at mapababa ang crimes against property nitong kapaskuhan na ito (You will observe that even inside the malls, police visibility will be there and we will make sure to lower the rate of crimes against property during this season),” Silo said.
He added that aside from malls, they will also deploy personnel in terminals and churches.
Meanwhile, Dela Rey said the security clusters will be composed of the Civil Security Unit (CSU), Task Force Davao, and auxiliary forces in the city. KSD