700 cops to secure Misa de Gallo churchgoers

CEBU City Police Office will deploy 75 percent of their personnel to secure those who will attend the Misa de Gallo or the nine day Dawn Masses, which will start on Dec. 16.

Senior Supt. Royina Garma, Cebu City Police Office chief, said in an interview on Tuesday that the 25 percent of the police force would be assigned to do administrative work.

With the CCPO made up of an estimated 1,000 police officers, this means that at least 700 police officers will be securing the church goers on the first day of the Dawn Masses..

Garma also assured that police officers would be at their posts outside churches an hour before the Dawn Masses would start.

She also said that on the first day of the Misa de Gallo, police officers would already be at their assigned areas as early as 1 a.m.

She said that day 1 of the Masses would be the most critical so police officers would be on standby on that day.

Meanwhile, Garma also said that she had allowed police officers to hold Christmas parties, but this should be done after office hours or only from 6 p.m. onwards.

She also said that as much as possible, there would be no drinking for those who would be on duty for the day.

She also reminded off-duty police officers to enjoy the party and to drink in moderation.