COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT. A female police officer hands over a leaflet to a young woman that contained information on how to help prevent violence and terrorism in North Cotabato. The provincial police office has raised its alert status for the Christmas season as a precautionary measure against threats to peace and security. (Photo courtesy of North Cotabato PPO)
COTABATO CITY – Police units in North Cotabato have been placed on heightened alert as the province prepares for the holiday season, an official said Friday.
“We are on the alert status from December 1 and we have increased it to one step higher as the Simbang Gabi comes closer,” Lt. Col. Bernard Tayong, speaking for North Cotabato police office, said over a local radio station.
Tayong said increasing the alert status means more police checkpoints and police visibility in crime-prone areas, and the deployment of more cops in places of worships for the traditional “Misa de Gallo.”
He said Col. Maximo Layugan, North Cotabato police director, has ordered police personnel doing office and administrative works to go out and help disseminate information on how to prevent the occurrence of violence and terrorism in the province’s 17 municipalities and in Kidapawan City.
“As in the past, the security of everyone is our priority and we can successfully do it if the public is with us,” Tayong said, adding that the Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) operating in Maguindanao and the communist New People’s Army (NPA) remain as the major threats to the North Cotabato security.
North Cotabato is among the targets of the BIFF operating in the marshland of Maguindanao, which borders North Cotabato province.
Tayong assured the residents that government forces tasked to secure the public are considering the presence of force multipliers in the barangays.
North Cotabato is also secured by the military’s 901st Infantry Brigade and 602nd Infantry Brigade, both based in the province. (PNA)
