PNP to lift full alert status to give cops a break after barangay polls, 'Undas' duties

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is expected to lift its full alert status on Thursday, Nov. 2, following what it described as successful barangay elections and observations of the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, locally referred to as Undas. 

PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda, Jr. said he is giving the local commanders the discretion on whether or not they would maintain the highest security alert status depending on the situation in their respective areas of responsibility. 

“Our full alert status will be until Undas, our uniformed personnel also deserve a rest, they also need to be their family,” said Acorda.

Under full alert status, all leaves are cancelled to ensure 100 percent attendance of the policemen for peace and order-related duties. 

More than 187,000 policemen were tapped to secure the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, their deployment was as early as a few days before the Oct. 30 elections to beef up checkpoints and police visibility patrols. 

On the other hand, more than 22,000 policemen were deployed to implement security measures for the Undas. 

So far, Acorda said they have not monitored any threat to peace and order in any part of the country, especially that the elections were already concluded. 

He, however, said that sufficient number of personnel will remain deployed to secure millions of Filipinos who are expected to head back to urban areas after the long weekend.