Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police here anticipate an increase in pickpockets and snatchers during the Holy Week as lawless individuals may take advantage of the expected influx of people.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that they have already anticipate more people to be out during the Holy Week from April 10 to April 16, 2022, especially since restrictions are already eased for the first time in two years since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
With this, police also expect lawless individuals, such as pickpockets, to also take advantage of the situation.
But they will be ready for this.
“Ang usual gyud nato nga mga crimes kay pickpocketing and snatching. Mao nay atoang tagaan og importansya. Mao nay atoang i-consider. Tungod sa kadaghan sa tawo, usahay malipat, mudagsa sad ni atoang pickpockets,” Parilla said.
(The usual crimes are pickpocketing and snatching. These are what we will give importance to. That is what we will consider. Because of influx of people, pickpockets may want to take advantage too.)
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Parilla said a representative from the Archdiocese of Cebu has also forwarded a notice to CCPO, inviting them for the preparation for the security coverage intended for the Holy Week. They have yet to know when the meeting would be with the Archdiocese.
“Mag expect gyud ta nga for about two years wala ta magselebrar sa mao nga okasyon. So expected nato nga the more ang tawo nga mudagsa sa panahon sa pag selebrar sa Semana Santa,” he said.
(We expect this since we did not hold any Holy Week activity for the past two years. So we really expect more people during this year’s Holy Week.)
To be ready for this, Parilla said that they are also preparing to request additional personnel from the regional office. However, this is still pending as they continue their assessment on how many police augmentation they need.
Meanwhile, Parilla also said that even with the eased restrictions under Alert Level 1, the public should continue to follow basic health protocols and not forget that COVID-19 is still present.
“Kinahanglan gihapon mag sul-ot og face mask. Wala nata’y limit sa tawo, considering nga we are already in the level 1. Hopefully, hapsay ra ang tanan,” he said.
(Everyone needs to wear face masks. We do not have a limit on gathering since we are already under the level 1 status. Hopefully, everything will be orderly.)
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/bmjo