ILOILO City – One of the goals of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) this Dinagyang season is to curb if not totally eliminate petty crimes such as snatching and bag-slashing.
Groups of petty criminals are preparing to take advantage of Dinagyang Festival revelers, according to Police Colonel Martin Defensor, city police director, citing intelligence information.
Some of these groups are not from this city, he added, but they may have local contacts.
There could be recidivist thieves or repeat offenders, too, said Defensor.
“They usually mix with the spectators and pretend na manonood rin sila pero ang plano nila ay mang-target ng kanilang bibiktimahin. ‘Yan ang ating tututukan,” he said.
The Dinagyang Festival highlight is on Jan. 26 (ati tribes contest).
But there are lots of activities in the days leading to Jan. 26.
On Jan. 25 there’s the Dagyang sa Calle Real, sponsors’ mardi gras and religious sadsad. These are all expected to attract huge crowds.
On Jan. 24 there’s the drum and bugle competition, fluvial procession, float parade, and fireworks display.
Another crowd-magnet is the four day Dinagyang Food Festival from Jan. 23 to 26.
Defensor said the ICPO will be mobilizing uniformed and plain-clothed policemen to catch petty criminals.
But he also advised revelers to be security-conscious. Do not wear flashy jewelry, show-off expensive gadgets or bring huge amounts of money that will surely attract thieves, he said.
Over 4,000 security personnel would be mobilized, according to Lieutenant Mercylin Duero of the ICPO’s Operations Division.
Of the 4,000 personnel, 2,292 are policemen. The rest are force multipliers (from the Philippine Army and Philippine Coast Guard)./PN