City celebrates New Year's eve peacefully
Firecracker-related incidents in the city dropped to seven and three stray bullet cases were recorded in the Iloilo City Police Office. Three fire calls were also responded by the city's fire department and two volunteer fire brigades.
City Mayor Jerry Treñas said the number of firecracker-related incidents decreased compared last year as initially reported by the police. He could not give the comparative data of firecracker related incidents for 2007 and 2008 as he is still waiting for the final report of the city police.
For the stray bullet cases, Treñas said the police could not determine who fired their guns during the New Year's revelry. There is no specific report on whether it was a law enforcer or civilians who fired shots. Earlier, the PNP hierarchy issued a warning to members of the police force not to fire their guns during New Year's eve revelry.
Treñas added that there were three fire calls during New Year. The fire was immediately responded by the two volunteer fire brigades in the city, the Iloilo City Action Group (Icag) and Federation of Iloilo Volunteer Fire Brigade. The fire calls came from the district of Jaro, Mandurriao and Lapaz. The damage caused by fire to properties was minimal, he said.
The mayor expressed appreciation on the efforts exerted by the two volunteer fire brigades.
"They had been on alert even before the New Year's celebration. They kept a tight watch in all the firecracker zones in the city," the mayor noted.