Thousands of security personnel from the Davao Police Office (DCPO) alongside the Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO) and traffic and transportation agencies in the city will be deployed for the Duterte family’s annual "Pahalipay sa Taal" on December 25.
Based on the report, DCPO is anticipating around 20,000 individuals coming from across the Davao Region to receive financial assistance and other food-related packages.
The number, however, is much lower compared to over 40,000 individuals who came last 2022.
“Mga more or less 20,000 ang musalmot ani (More or less 20,000 will be joining this activity),” DCPO spokesperson Captain Hazel Tuazon told SunStar in a text message on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
The official added that the rules and regulations implemented during the previous years will also be imposed this year, particularly the no backpack policy, no colored water bottles, jackets, and sharp objects such as knives.
Tuazon also reminded the public to avoid bringing infants and senior citizens.
Moreover, sending representatives on behalf of those who could not attend to claim food packs, which will be distributed from 1 p.m. onwards on the same day, is allowed.
The “Pahalipay sa Taal” is a yearly tradition of the Duterte family at the ancestral house of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte situated at Taal Road, Central Park Subdivision at Bangkal, Davao City.
It can be noted that the annual activity was suspended for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. DEF