Cordillera Police deploy thousands of officers for holiday season

Holiday Noise-Making Alternatives. PROCOR Operations Division chief Davy Vicente Limmong (extreme left) suggests refraining from the use of firecrackers, and sounding the gongs instead in order to sustain the low turnout of firework-related injuries in the past two years of pandemic, during the Kapihan sa Baguio on December 19, 2022 in Baguio City for “Oplan Paalala: Iwas Paputok 2022”. (Merriam del Rosario, FNS)

BAGUIO CITY – The Police Regional Office – Cordillera (PROCOR) on Monday, December 19, 2022 announced their plans to deploy over 667 thousand officers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and local government units (LGUs) aside from Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel, throughout the holiday season.

PROCOR Operations Division chief Davy Vicente Limmong said the officers have already been stationed in traffic-congested areas and at convergence points such as churches where Aguinaldo masses are held.

The deployment will also extend to provinces, as travel is expected to increase during this time.

According to Limmong, they have also laid out plans to clear roads and highways of obstructions in coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and LGUs.

He said they have also requested that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) stop ongoing road repairs and construction, if possible, during the holiday season in an effort to ease traffic congestion, particularly in Benguet and the City of Baguio where traffic is already very tight.

While there have been relatively low numbers of firecracker-related injuries in the past two years, pandemic times, Limmong said they are encouraging people to refrain from using firecrackers and instead participate in organized firecracker displays where trained personnel are handling the pyrotechnics.

“Hangga’t maari (as much as possible), let us just join organized firecracker displays wherein there are areas identified and [fireworks are] being handled by trained personnel,” Limmong said.

Alternative ways to make noise, such as using gongs and “torotot”, are also suggested.

Limmong also reminded the adults to supervise children to prevent them from handling unexploded firecrackers, which can be dangerous.

In addition to these safety measures, Limmong reminded the public to avoid drinking and driving, and to not get behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol.

“Many accidents are caused by alcohol intake, and we are hoping to prevent any incidents during the holiday season,” Limmong said. ###