Police on peace and order situation for the Sinulog grand parade: So far, so good

Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO 7) director Chief Superintendent Noli Taliño updates members of the media on the peace and order situation as of noon. (CDN PHOTO/JOHN CARLO VILLARUEL)

The public is asked to cooperate in order to have a successful and peaceful Sinulog grand parade.

Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO 7) director Chief Superintendent Noli Taliño said security is everybody’s concern.

“Although yung police primarily involve dito with the support of our counterparts, (what is important here is the) cooperation (of everyone). Dapat mapagmatiyag din sila (We should be vigilant),” Taliño said.

Before the grand parade officially started, Taliño together with PRO 7 deputy regional director for operations (DRDO) Senior Superintendent Rey Lyndon Lawas, Regional Intelligence Division (RID) chief Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal and Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) director Senior Supt. Joel Doria inspected the Sinulog route.

Taliño said that he hoped that there will be zero crime today, just like what happened during the fluvial and solemn processions yesterday.

“There were no reported untowards incidents yesterday. Yan yung objective natin nga magkaroon ng zero incident,” Taliño said.

The regional director reiterated there is no imminent or direct threat in Cebu specifically for Sinulog grand parade.

Meanwhile, Taliño said that even after the grand parade, police and other security personnel will still be deployed to control unruly crowd.

He also clarified that no stampede happened last night during a party event in a bar in Barangay Mabolo.

“Hindi naman stampede yung nangyari. Nakainom na ang mga tai kaya nagung unruly na (There was no stampede. Some just got drunk and became unruly),” he said.

However, he warned that if it will happened again today parties will be forcibly stopped.