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[av_heading heading=’ Over 1T ‘peacekeepers’ in MassKara ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – More than 1,000 law enforcers and force multipliers will help maintain peace and order during the MassKara Festival from Oct. 1 to 22.
Six hundred police officers will augment the Bacolod City Police Office force, according to Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, acting city police director.
Of the number, 200 will come from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office and 400 from the Police Regional Office 6’s Regional Public Safety Battalion, Wanky said.
Fifty Philippine Army soldiers and around 700 Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team members will be deployed, too.
Wanky said their security plan for the annual festivity is “95-percent ready.”
A simulation exercise will be held today at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) to further enhance security preparations, he said.
The BCGC ground in Barangay Villamonte is one of the three festival sites, the other two being the city public plaza and the Tourism Strip on Lacson Street.
PROHIBITIONS
Several security measures applied during MassKara in the previous years will still be applied this year, police said.
Bottles of liquor and soft drinks or any bottle of similar nature or glass containers are banned from the festival sites, while the use of pointed barbecue sticks is prohibited.
All bags, especially backpacks, of people entering the festival sites will be thoroughly inspected, too, said the police.
Firearms will also be barred once the gun ban is approved.
Wanky said he also recommended to Superintendent Luisito Acebuche, Bacolod Traffic Authority Office head, to let vehicles pick up and unload passengers far away from activity areas./PN
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