PNP: Peaceful Easter Sunday celebration

CEBU, Philippines - Large crowds gathered in many places for religious activities yesterday in celebration of Easter Sunday but not a single crime related to the celebration was reported.

Police officials in Cebu City and Cebu Province reported a peaceful celebration in their territories.

“It was generally peaceful with no untoward incident. The crowd was also very manageable,” Cebu City Police Office Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said.

With thousands of devotees gathered in the different religious activities held yesterday, not a single thievery, the most common crime committed in large crowds, was reported.

The Sugat celebration in the church in Guadalupe and in the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral was very peaceful, according to Buenafe.

Almost 1,000 policemen and force multipliers deployed, Buenafe said, and the people were also very cooperative.

“Walay nagdala ug mga pointed weapons, very cooperative sila. Kahibaw na gyud sila na this is a solemn activity ug ilang girespetaran,” he said. (No one was found concealing any weapon, everyone respected the solemnity of the occasion.)

The policemen were reinforced by volunteer groups, barangay tanods and the Barangay Peace-keeping Action Team (BPAT).

At the province, the Sugat Kabanhawa in the towns of Minglanilla, Argao and Compostela went on without any disruptions.

Chief Insp. Timmar Alam, Minglanilla police chief, said the four public assistance centers they established helped a lot in securing the crowd.— (FREEMAN)