CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) has alerted its personnel for the month-long Higala-ay Festival in August.

In a statement on Thursday, Police Col. Dexter Paje, COCPO director, said their deployment will ensure heightened police visibility as a key strategy for the safety and security of residents and visitors.

A 1,000-strong security force, including augmentation forces from the Philippine Army (PA) and Police Regional Office in Northern Mindanao (PRO-10), is being eyed for deployment during the month-long celebration.

Despite this, Paje said they will still follow the national directive in adopting an eight-hour working shift, with contingent placement from the PA and PRO-10 as force multipliers.

"Effective time management and proper deployment of police personnel are also being implemented to enable officers to perform their duties efficiently," Paje said.

Their deployment will also include maintaining security at schools across the city while conducting festival-related operations.

Mark Kenneth Jalapadan, the acting head of the City Tourism Office, said this year's festival will have 53 activities from nine core events, 12 major events, eight minor events, and 28 parallel events.

"We initially planned a modest preparation because of the economic impacts of the Middle East crisis, but more partners were willing to collaborate with us, so it's getting bigger each year," he said. (PNA)