General Rodolfo Azurin, Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has placed all its elite forces in highest alert status in anticipation of attacks as the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) marks its 54th anniversary this month.
Azurin made the announcement during the year-end PNP command conference attended by top officials of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) Regional Mobile Forces Battalion (RMFB), as well as heads and other officials of various police units nationwide.
"The Special Action Force and all 17 Regional Mobile Force Battalions nationwide will be put to highest alert for any possible tactical engagements and harassments against government forces," said Azurin.
The CPP, the political arm of the New People's Army (NPA), will celebrate its anniversary on Dec. 26.
Discussed during the conference were updates on security situation and threat assessment and forecast for the Yuletide season, national crime situation, operational accomplishments and anti-crime efforts and deployment during Yuletide Season.
“The successful outcome of the major events that unfolded during the year is the result of sheer hard work, careful planning and preparation by PNP Units," said Azurin.
"The challenge now is to sustain our gains especially these coming days when the traditional public activities associated with the yuletide shall keep people busy on a spending spree in shopping malls and commercial centers, night markets, and holiday destinations," he added.
Azurin also stressed the outlook during the Christmas season such as crime trends in December, as he disclosed that they expect the crime incidents to be lower than in previous months.
He attributed it to the 85 percent deployment of PNP personnel major vital installations, mobilization of force multipliers to augment support to local police units in security operations, continuous checkpoints and chokepoints, timely release of infographics on safety tips to avoid being victimized by cyber criminals, arrest manufacturers, resellers and users of illegal firecrackers and pyro technique device.
“It is during this time that policemen should be on alert and people should see more cops on the street as it is expected that criminals would go around preying on the public," said Azurin.