PNP: Public obeyed ‘new Undas norms’

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

The public appeared to have adapted to the new normal in observing All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on Nov 1-2, 2020.

Despite the peculiarities in the religious events, no untoward incident was reported all over Western Visayas.

The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) announced on Monday that “Undas 2020 was generally peaceful and orderly” because Filipinos commemorated it under different norms.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson, said PRO-6 monitoring showed that “the general public are compliant to the visiting schedule set by the COVID-19 Task Force.”

In the guidelines released by the Task Force, the public are only allowed to visit cemeteries, memorial parks, and columbaria from Sept 27 to October 28 and Nov 5 to 15.

These areas are closed to the public from Oct 29 to Nov 4.

“We have noted that no cemetery-goer attempted to visit their loved ones during the entire scheduled closure of cemeteries, columbaria and memorial parks from Oct 29 to Nov 1,” Malong said.

Meanwhile, PRO-6 only recorded 178 crime incidents from Oct 29 until Nov 1.

The statistic is a 49.58 percent reduction from last year’s 359 cases.

Also, the number of 8 Focus Crimes (murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, car theft, and motorcycle theft) decreased from 40 last year to only 21 cases in 2020.

The public safety index also decreased from 177 to only 81 cases, or a whopping decline of 54.23 percent.

Public safety index refers to cases of reckless imprudence that includes vehicular accidents.

Malong said the peaceful observance of this year’s Undas is mainly attributed to the full cooperation of the public on the guidelines set by the national government to control the spread of COVID-19.

PRO-6 also highlighted that one of the big factors in the orderly observance of Undas is the implementing guidelines set by the local government units (LGUs) that aligned with the national rules.

Malong also underscored the help of the media in disseminating the schedule and other specific guidelines and encouraging the public to stay at home.

Further, PRO-6 also recognized the contribution of the force multipliers who joined them in ensuring the safety, peace and order and security since the first day of their deployment.

For the closure days, PRO-6 deployed 800 personnel to 293 established Police Assistance Desks (PADs) all over the region.

Also, more than 2,300 PNP personnel, together with force multipliers, maintain the assistance hubs in major highways, Cemeteries, airports, seaports, bus terminals, resorts, and even malls.

PRO-6 also deployed some 580 Road Safety Marshalls to ensure safety and observance of traffic rules of those who are going to and from convergence areas.

“We will continue our Undas security coverage and monitoring until Nov 15,” Malong said.