The first day of "Simbang Gabi," the traditional nine-day dawn masses leading to Christmas Day, went generally peaceful and orderly, the Philippine National Police (PNP) declared Friday, Dec. 16.
PNP Chief, Police Gen. Rodolfo Azuron Jr. placed the entire police organization on full alert status as part of initiatives to boost security measures for the Yuletide season.
“From Thursday night (Dec. 15) until this early morning (Dec. 16) of the start of Simbang Gabi of our Catholic faithfuls, it was generally peaceful and orderly. We have not recorded any untoward incident related to Simbang Gabi,” said Police Col. Jean Fajardo, PNP spokesperson.
Fajardo said there was also a sizeable crowd that participated on the first day of the nine-day "Misa de Gallo" novena masses as it was the first time that the traditional activity was allowed since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020.
"In the past two years, we never really had any activities like this. Now, this is the first Simbang Gabi event and it was really attended by a lot of people," she said.
The PNP deployed around 30,000 police personnel in 3,700 places of worship nationwide for Simbang Gabi, according to Fajardo.
Police assistance desks were also activated while mobile and foot patrol personnel were mobilized to secure the public in churches and other places of convergence.
Meanwhile, Azurin reminded police personnel that all their leaves will be automatically canceled since the PNP is under full alert status.
“In addition to their regular duties, these police officers play a crucial role in maintaining order and helping prevent crime during this time as they may also be called upon to provide traffic control, respond to emergencies, and assist with crowd management at events," Azurin said.