To tighten security operations for the Christmas season of this year, dubbed as “Paskuhan 2019”, around 70,000 police officers and over 150,000 “force implementers” are going to be deployed to protect church goers (for the traditional “simbang gabi” or Aguinaldo Mass), mall shoppers, and common citizens in general. They will be strategically placed around commercial areas, shopping malls, firecracker zone communities, roads, train stations, checkpoints, churches, seaports, airports and of course on the city streets to protect people against the usual crimes such as theft, gang wars, violence, robbery, mugging, public disturbances, etc. The strategy was named E-MPO or Enhanced Managing Police Operations.
According to the Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, the full alert status for the Christmas season especially in Visayas and Luzon was ordered through officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa starting from December 15 until January 5 of 2020. Police visibility in many places and especially around places of worship will be expected during day and night time implementing anti-criminality operations against current common crimes such as murder by motorcycle-riding suspects, street robberies and gang riots.
Police officer killed by New People’s Army (NPA) members in ambush in Samar
According to the report, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Central Command Major Patrick Martinez said members of NPA ambushed the patrol pick-up, a Toyota Hilux, in Borongan, Eastern Samar and killed a patrolman named Mike Rama along with 1 boy while also injured 3 more civilian adults on a pedicab that was following the patrol vehicle. They also injured five more police officers during this heinous incident that happened last Friday, December 13, 2019.
Regarding the incident, Presidential Communications secretary and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Communications chief Martin Andanar said in a statement:
“The loss of life and the violence experienced by the victims are reprehensible. We can only imagine the grief of their loved ones who would have spent the Christmas season with them in good health, had it not been for the senseless act of these terrorists. Our thoughts go out to all of you in this difficult time.”
Sources:
- https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1201601/pnp-under-full-alert-status-during-holiday-season#ixzz6844rlhUo
- https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1201604/palace-condemns-npa-attack-in-samar-that-killed-cop-3old-boy
