ILOILO City – Around 9,000 police officers will be deployed around Panay Island to ensure peace and order this Holy Week.
Lieutenant Colonel Arnel Solis, spokesperson for Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), said they wanted to enforce maximum police visibility for the security of the local and foreign tourists as well as pilgrims, particularly those who would want to visit Holy Week sites such as in Jordan, Guimaras to witness the “Ang Pagtaltal sa Balaan Bukid.”
“We have to deploy more personnel to secure our pilgrims and also foreign and local tourists who wanted to witness the activity on Good Friday. We are aiming for zero major crime incidents, that’s why we have to deploy more cops,” said Solis.
He further said that the PRO-6 will utilize force multipliers to help the police and keep close coordination with other law enforcement agencies.
On the other hand, Guimaras Police Provincial Office (GPPO) director Colonel Rhea Santos said they will deploy 104 uniformed personnel to Jordan town where Ang Pagtaltal sa Balaan Bukid will be held with the augmentation from other government agencies and volunteer groups.
“We have enough personnel to be deployed to secure hundreds of pilgrims and those who wanted to witness one of known activities which is Ang Pagtaltal sa Balaang Bukid,” Santos said.
Meanwhile, the Regional Maritime Unit 6 (RMU-6) will also deploy 14 police personnel for Holy Week.
According to Major Janvier Gilza, chief of RMU-6’s Iloilo Station, they will deploy two personnel to every wharf in Iloilo and Guimaras, including the Estancia Feeder Port, Bay-ang port in Ajuy town, Dumangas Port, Iloilo Fastcraft Terminal, FF Cruz RoRo Port in Lapuz, Parola Wharf, and Jordan Wharf./PN
