Misa De Gallo: Police in Cebu province gear up for religious event

Catholics attend a dawn Mass or the Misa de Gallo in one of the churches of Cebu City. | CDN Digital 2020 file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – There will be additional police officers, uniformed and plain-clothed, deployed at the churches in the province of Cebu to ensure the safety of pilgrims who would be joining the annual Misa De Gallo.

The Misa De Gallo, an annual religious event held every holiday season, is set to start on Monday, December 16.

A few days before this, law enforcers are gearing up to provide the necessary security coverage at the total of 60 churches in the province.

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Police Captain Eden Rex Baguio, Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) spokesperson, assured that the agency was fully committed into securing the yearly activity and ensuring that everything would go smoothly amid the anticipated influx of churhgoers.

Baguio disclosed that their deployment for this year will be formatted based on the plans that were implemented in the previous years.

He said that additional police officers would be on standby at the churches along with force multipliers and personnel of other government agencies.

“Additional uniformed and plain-clothed officers will be deployed to churches and traffic. And of course, sa atoang (to our) force multipliers inclduing barangay tanods and civilian volunteers to add sa atoang (in our) deployment especially sa (in the) Misa de Gallo,” said Baguio.

Aside from religious sites, police visibility will also be maximized in popular areas of convergence.

Prevent traffic congestion

To prevent traffic congestion on the roads, policemen are working in coordination with the local government units to enforce traffic management rules and set up traffic rerouting plans when needed.

Police assistance desks and emergency response teams will also be on standby at strategic locations in case of any medical emergency or untoward incidents.

Furthermore, authorities are coordinating with religious community leaders regarding their holiday activities.

Baguio said that as part of their preparation, they would be anticipating the arrival of criminal entities who come to Cebu solely to commit robberies during the festivities.

“Based sa atoang intelligence monitoring, wa pa tay grupo nga namonitor nga nisulod sa Cebu province. Pero gi-anticipate na na namo nga possible gyud ni sila kay kahibalo gyud sila sa volume sa tawo,” he said.

(Based on our intelligence monitoring, there are still no groups that came to Cebu that we have monitored yet. But we already anticipate that it is really possible because they know about the volume of people.)

As a preventive measure, Baguio said that police were constantly monitoring business establishments in their area to check if their Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were functioning properly.

With the goal of a peaceful and orderly celebration, Baguio urged the residents to cooperate with the law enforcement units as they head to their local church.

“We encourage everyone to cooperate with the authorities by adhering to the security protocols, avoiding [bringing] prohibited items to churches, and promptly reporting suspicious activities,” he said.