ILOILO CITY -- The well-celebrated weeklong Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo town in Aklan province came to a close on Sunday without any untoward incident.
The assessment of the annual festival’s outcome came from no less than Brigadier General Leo Francisco, director of Police Regional Office-region 6 (PRO-6).
“It is worthy to note that no incident of the eight focus crimes was recorded inside the festival site,” said BGen. Francisco.
It meant no murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and stealing of vehicles were recorded during the weeklong event dubbed as the mother of all Philippine festivals.
Two people, however, were arrested for carrying marijuana.
They were identified as 48-year-old Glenn Reyes and 33-year-old Niño Dela Cruz, who were caught in possession of illegal drugs in one of the checkpoint areas.
Francisco attributed the peaceful festival to the security plan, wherein 1,500 cops were deployed all over Kalibo.
The cops were amply backed by other law enforcement agencies and force multipliers, including barangay police (village watchers) in manning the entrance and exits of the festival zones and checkpoints.
“I’d like to thank our partner agencies for augmenting our personnel as well as the cooperation of the people,” said Francisco.