Peaceful and quiet
The Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 said the observance yesterday of the All Saints’ Day in the city and in the region was generally peaceful, and Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña could not contain his satisfaction.
"Yes, very satisfied... Very quiet, so far it's very peaceful," Osmeña said.
He said he has no specific directives to police authorities and other concerned agencies since they know their duties and responsibilities.
The mayor made this assessment after he and his family visited the graves of their departed loved ones at the Doña Pepang cemetery yesterday morning.
The family offered short prayer for the late senator Sergio Osmeña Jr., Osmeña's father, and the late first lady Estefania “Doña Pepang” Veloso Osmeña, wife of the late president and Cebu's “grand old man” Sergio Osmeña Sr.
Chief Inspector Kenneth Paul Albotra, ground commander at the Doña Pepang cemetery, said the area remains peaceful since they started monitoring as of last Wednesday.
"Sa among part, we are expecting some VIPs to arrive, so we conducted ocular inspection (yesterday), so far very mingaw man ang menteryo. But then amo gihapong bantayan until the
end sa among duty ngari," he said.
As of yesterday, about 260,000 individuals braved the scorching heat of the sun to visit the 444 cemeteries in the region.
PRO-7 Director Debold Sinas said that they have not recorded any major untoward incident and that people adhered to the rules and surrendered prohibited items listed.
As of 5 p.m., 11 bladed weapons were turned over, five bottles of alcoholic beverages, and 22 other illegal items.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Royina Garma said that around 20,000 turned up as of 3 p.m. yesterday in the 21 cemeteries under the CCPO.
She blamed the heat as the reason why lesser people turned up at the cemeteries. The heat index yesterday was at 37.5 degrees.
Last year, they recorded about 40,000 people who turned up last year at the same period.
CCPO Operations Branch Chief Wilbert Parilla said the long weekend is also a reason since people went ahead and visited the departed loved ones prior to All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.
“Kung ato i-compare ang mga tawo, mas gamay ra karon. Maayo ang panahon, mao maayo ra ang dagan sa traffic og sa pagpatuman sa rules,” Parilla said.
Garma said that they have added at least 30 more personnel at the ports and bus terminals to secure and assist passengers.
She added the two biggest public cemeteries in Barangay Carreta and Calamba were also peaceful.
Police Senior Inspector Joemar Pomarejos, chief of Waterfront police where Carreta falls under, said that people cooperated.
He said at least 18 additional deployment desks from CCPO were also placed at the ports under his area of responsibility to assist and secure passengers.
At the Calamba cemetery, Chief Inspector Allan Rosario
said there were no significant incidents at the biggest public cemetery.
Garma said cops deployed followed religiously the deployment plan.
Garma added that aside from the 11 persons arrested yesterday at Pier 3 in Cebu City for violating the AntiDispatching Ordinance, everything else went without a hitch.
These individuals served as cab dispatchers.
“Maliit lang pero kaso pa rin yun magkakaroon sila ng record, aside from that wala na and generally peaceful naman,” she said.
Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Manuel Abrugena also said that police personnel in the province have not recorded any significant incident.
He said crowd estimate at the cemeteries under CPPO reached at least 140,000.
“We will see kung ano mangyayari bukas, because as a trend dadami ang tao din sa All Souls' day, our cops naman will adjust appropriately,” he said.
On the other hand, Councilor David Tumulak, chairman of the Cebu City Council committee on public order and safety, hopes that the observance of “Undas” will be peaceful.
He said only minor incidents were being recorded such as loss of consciousness of few individuals.
"First is nagpahimangno ta sa mga naay gipamati sa lawas, dili usa moadto sa menteryo labi na sa panahon karon grabe kaayo ang kainit," Tumulak said.
Meanwhile, Police Chief Inspector Greg Ybiernas said despite the volume of individuals flocking to the Carreta Public Cemetery, the situation is still normal.
Ybiernas said around 13 cops were deployed to monitor the area as far as public safety is concerned.
"Naa ta'y tarpaulin sa gawas nga nagbutang unsa'y angay ug dili. Naa na'y naconfiscate nga mga bladed weapons sama sa sipol," he said.