Davao City remains on high alert as Christmas season nears

From the Philippine Information Agency (Nov 15): Davao City remains on high alert as Christmas season nears

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio maintained the city’s security remains at heightened alert due to the continuous operation of the military and police in the provinces of Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi areas.

She said that since the president of the Philippines lives in Davao City and has the tag as high value target, so the heightened alert remains.

“I support the security sector in handling the peace and order in Davao City especially the activation of the Joint Task Force Haribon which adds personnel from other units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.  I also gave them guidance to prepare for the Christmas Season because historically an increase in petty, and street crimes and there is an alert for terrorism,” Duterte-Carpio said.

She said that Christmas time is an occasion when people converge for merry-making.

Duterte-Carpio also pledged to support the equipment needs of the Task Force Davao to harden more the security of the city given that it will be used in the Davao City area.

She said Task Force Davao commander Colonel Erwin Bernard Neri has asked for movable equipment like metal detectors, signal jammers, x-ray scanners.

“The city government will support the needs of the Task Force Davao since the local government has funds for these projects,” Duterte-Carpio said.

She also appreciated the joint effort of the police and the military to provide action following the September 2 night market blast.

Duterte-Carpio said the military and police are helping each other in building up cases against the respondents in the September 2 night market blast who are mainly from the Autonomous Region ins Muslim Mindanao.

Duterte-Carpio also noted the reduction of crime incidents from January to October of 2016 comparing it to the same period in 2015.

“I urged the police to reduce further criminal incidents especially on the period from November to December, when people come together for the holidays,” she said.

Duterte-Carpio said the Public Safety Command Center is still studying the security relevance of the Barangay Police Unit which was disbanded in October, 2016.

“As long as we do not see that the P5.9 Million allocation for the Barangay Police Unit does not contribute to the reduction of criminal incidents, it will have a hard time activating it,” she said.

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2381479196412/davao-city-remains-on-high-alert-as-christmas-season-nears