BACOLOD City – Peaceful and successful. This was how the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) assessed the 21-day staging of this year’s MassKara Festival.
BCPO spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico said there were no major crimes from Oct. 7 to 27.
Pico attributed this to stringent security measures not just at festival sites but also in strategic places across the metro.
“The public was prohibited from bringing knapsacks, pointed sticks, bottled beverages, and deadly weapons for the safety of the revelers,” said Pico.
He also cited the gun ban and mobile phone signal shutdown in some areas.
“These security protocols contributed a lot in reducing the crime rate during the festival,” he said.
In the three-day highlight of the festival, BCPO recorded only 27 street crimes – 62.79-percent lower compared to last year’s 43.
“The eight focus crimes included murder, homicide, rape, physical injury, robbery, carnapping, motornapping, and theft,” Pico said.
He added that this year, there were no cases of murder or homicide, while the number of physical assault cases dropped to only four. Last year, there were 14 recorded incidents.
The BCPO also reported one rape-related incident, two robberies and nine theft cases. No incidents of carnapping or motornapping were recorded this year./PN
