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CEBU CITY, Philippines — After the festivities for New Year’s Day, police in Central Visayas reported that there were no major crime incidents, aside from some firecracker-related incidents, recorded during the celebration.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO-7), described the celebration in general as “very peaceful and secure.”
READ: New Year’s Day fires: Firecrackers damage classroom, house in Pasil, Guadalupe
New Year 2024 police reports
“According to the report that we got from the provincial directors and city directors, nagmalinawon gyud ang atong pagsaulog sa atoang New Year 2024,” he said during a phone interview with local media on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
(According to the report that we got from the provincial directors, and city directors, our celebration of our New Year 2024 is peaceful.)
READ: Firecracker-related injuries: Boy loses all 5 fingers to ‘Dart Bomb’
No major crimes in New Year 2024
Pelare said that there were no major crimes reported during the celebration aside from some incidents involving firecrackers.
“Naa tay mga ginagmay narecord nga firecracker incidents but unlike before sa previous year, grabe ang pagkunhod karon sa atoang aksidente sa fire crackers. Wa sad tay natala nga major crimes,” he said.
(We have records of small firecracker incidents, but unlike before in the previous year, firecracker accidents have really gone down.)
READ: DOH logs first fireworks-related death, stray bullet injury
Fireworks-related incidents
In a social media post, the Department of Health in Central Visayas said that there were a total of 41 fireworks-related incidents recorded as of January 1.
There were also no individuals recorded to have been victimized by stray bullets in the region, based on the data from the Regional Operations Division.
On the other hand, PRO-7 arrested some individuals during their aggressive police operations during the holiday.
Pelare said that this record could be seen as the result of their proactive stance adapted in anticipation of the public’s movement during the holiday season.
READ: 4-year-old firecracker victim loses fingers on right hand
Roving activities
As part of this, Police Brigadier General Anthony Aberin, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), and members of the Command Group previously conducted roving activities to ensure that their plans were implemented properly.
Pelare added that all police personnel were rendering their duties in each of their respective areas of responsibility for the safety of all residents.
“That is the reason why we had a very peaceful and secured New Year,” he stated.
READ: Baby, 11 months, youngest fireworks-related injury case – DOH
Central Visayas becoming mature
According to Pelare, this goes to show that residents of Central Visayas have become knowledgeable on the dangers of fireworks and have exerted efforts to avoid these dangers.
“We can see this as a maturity sa atong constituents sa Central Visayas kay makita ninyo in previous years, usa gyud na sa atong ginatan-aw kay nana gyuy mga daghang mabiktima. But now, very minimal. Unya wa sad tay casualty which is very good for the new year,” said Pelare.
(We can see this as a maturity of our constituents in Central Visayas because you can see in previous years, (there is) only one thing that we notice is that there are really many victims. But now, very mininal. And we also do not have a casualty which is very good for the new year.)