Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter / CDND photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) will be on a full alert status this Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25, for the celebration of the city’s 86th Charter Day and the commemoration of the 37th EDSA People Power Revolution respectively.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter, CCPO’s deputy director for operations, said this means that police personnel will be placed on standby to respond to emergencies that may occur while the two celebrations are ongoing.
Rafter said their security plans are also in place, but she did not provide specifics.
“Sa atoang Charter Day, there are several activities prior to [Feb.] 24. Sugod niadtong Dominggo, anaa nay gipahigayon nga aktibidades, it is a weeklong activity. We have prepared [a] security plan ani nga mga aktibidades,” Rafter said.
The Cebu City government kicked off its weeklong celebration of its Charter Anniversary last February 17 with a massive tree planting activity at the South Road Properties and in Barangays Talamban and Kalunasan.
City officials also led the launch of the Don Vicente Rama exhibit at the lobby of the Cebu City Hall Legislative Building.
Rafter said they will continue to provide security to the other Charter Day activities that are scheduled until Friday. She said that they have sufficient number of police personnel for deployment in the coming days, but she begged off from providing a specific count.
Meanwhile, Rafter said uniformed personnel are also on standby to provide security to activities that are related to the celebration of the Edsa Revolution Anniversary on Feb. 25.
Their security deployment already takes into consideration the possibility of protests by some militant groups on that day.
“Usually man gyud [nay protests]. Amoang na obserbahan permi. Ginahatgan nato silag [the protesters] a certain minutes basta di mo disturb sa traffic or normal [nga] kalihukan sa syudad. After five minutes, atoa na sila hangyuon nga mo disperse na and that has been the case na they disperse themselves voluntarily,” Rafter said.
“Unlike in any other places, dili man sila [protesters] ingon ana ka aggressive. Diri [sa Cebu City] so far, wa pa tay nadawat nga ingon ana,” she added. | With Emmariel Ares
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