DINAGYANG FEVER
Over 1,000 cops, troops to secure Dinagyang '06
Over a thousand personnel from the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be securing this year's Dinagyang Festival.
Iloilo City Police Office director, Senior Superintendent Norlito Bautista revealed that the PNP and the AFP will be deploying exactly 1,216 of their personnel for the City's top tourist attraction, with the highlights on January 28 and 29.
"With the security personnel that we are having now, we are hopeful that the Dinagyang Festival 2006 will be peaceful and orderly,"; Bautista said during yesterday morning's briefing with the Iloilo City Hall Press Corps.
These will be backed by what Bautista calls 'force multipliers,' numbering 5,022 from the Red Cross, Criminology interns, cadets and cadettes from the various Reserve Officers Training Course units, barangay tanods and radio communication groups.
All in all, there will be a total of 6,238 security personnel that will be deployed for this year's revelries.
Bautista also mentioned that the Armed Forces will be deploying six K-9 teams-both bomb and drug sniffing dogs.
They have also borrowed eight container vans from shipping companies to be used as detention cells for unruly revelers. The container vans will be placed in eight points in the City Proper.
Bautista further said that the police is securing entry points to the City-both air and seaports.
Sting operations have also be conducted to net drug pushers taking advantage of the festive mood.
SHUN SEXY CLOTHES
At the same time, Bautista asked for the support of the community.
"If they see suspicious persons, they should notify the police,"; he said.
In a security guideline they distributed to the media, the police advised not to wear valuable items, nor bring a big amount of money.
They also advised against the display of mobile phones while walking.
"Never wear seductive clothes and shorts to avoid embarrassment and harassment,"; the guideline stresses.
Bautista added that, as much as possible, revelers should not bring with them backpacks, and "avoid too much drinking of alcoholic beverages to refrain misunderstanding.";
CRIME FREE
Meanwhile, Insp. Dande Deocampo, precinct commander of City Proper Police Station (police precinct 1) hopes to have a crime-free festival as they have already waged war against suspected snatchers and pickpockets.
During last Friday's opening salvo, he said, police rounded up at least 11 suspected pickpockets in the city as part of their preparation for this year's Dinagyang festival.
Out of the 11 suspects, two came from Davao City, six from Iloilo City and another three suspects from Bacolod City. Most of them have previous cases based on the records of the police precinct 1. The suspects are still detained at the detention cell of the police precinct 1.
Deocampo however said there was no record of petty crime incidents during the opening salvo and they want to maintain it.
Deocampo noted that most of the reported incidents during the event are pickpockets, snatching, violation of BP 6 or violation for carrying deadly and bladed weapon such as knives and other pointed instruments, drunkenness and acts of lasciviousness.
As this developed, the police had issued five important security measure and guidelines for civilians. These are: civilians should never wear valuable items and bring big amount of cash that will attract snatchers attention, never display cell phones while walking in the streets, never wear seductive clothes and shorts to avoid embarrassment and harassment and avoid too much drinking of alcoholic beverages to refrain misunderstanding and always walk with a companion and circle of friends.
The police also prepared several container vans for violators during the affair. The container vans will be stationed near each five judging areas and those areas frequently used as hang outs of the revelers and merry makers. The container vans will be used as temporary cell for drunk merry makers.