ILOILO CITY – The Philippine National Police (PNP) said All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in Western Visayas were generally peaceful.
PEOPLE visit the graves of departed relatives at the Iloilo City Public Cemetery on All Souls’ Day. (Tara Yap)
“This is a big accomplishment. We did not record any major incident during the ‘Undas’ commemoration. We thank the public’s cooperation,” said Police Brig. Gen. Sidney Villaflor, chief of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6.
Police said crime went down by 4.25 percent from October 31 to November 2, with only 108 reported compared to the 187 in the same period last year, due to the continuous alert status of law enforcement after the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
Aside from public cooperation, PRO-6 also attributed the downtrend in crime to the substantial number of law enforcement personnel deployed in cemeteries, churches, and transportation terminals.
Police Major Mary Grace Borio, PRO-6 spokesperson, said 3,814 security forces were deployed, 1,607 cops in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental provinces as well as the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod, 648 from other law enforcement agencies, and 1,559 force multipliers.