The Davao City Police Office has described as generally peaceful the Christmas celebration all over the city.
DCPO spokesperson Senior Inspector Catherine dela Rey told Edge Davao on Monday that there had been no violent incidents being reported to different police offices in Davao City during the Christmas celebration last Sunday.
The quiet Christmas celebration was due to the street deployment of personnel from stations and headquarters as well as augmentation of more than 200 staffs from the regional office.
Dela Rey also said the bike patrol, the first of its kind in Mindanao, was also implemented to address criminality and terrorism especially in crime prone areas where mobile patrol vehicles cannot reach and that the DCPO is also the first to conduct training on bike patrol in Mindanao.
She said initial reports gathered indicated no injuries being sustained arising from firecracker explosions and other pyro-technique wares.
As of yesterday morning [Monday], Dela Rey said reports from the field showed that Dabawenyos marked the Christmas celebration peacefully.
He added that the appeal made by the Department of Health for residents to observe the city ordinance on firecracker ban received positive response among Dabawenyos.
The city mayor asked city residents to refrain from using fireworks to avoid unnecessary injuries in celebrating Christmas and the New Year.
This has been confirmed by the records of the Southern Philippines Medical Center and other hospitals based in Davao which reported no significant incident on injuries.
“We have also informed the people in the different community about the firecracker ban,” dela Rey said.
However, despite the law banning firecrackers and pyrotechnics, there were still reports about people selling fireworks and that the DCPO confiscated 18 different types of firecracker materials sold in the city.
Dela Rey said that Toril police confiscated one box of toy guns and the Sta. Ana police seized two boxes of the same items sold in a store along Ramon Magsaysay Avenue a few weeks ago.
“These were replica of guns using gun powder which is prohibited for sale,” Dela Rey explained.
Dela Rey said they are appealing to Dabawenyos to report to the Isumbong mo kay CD hotline or to the 911 any persons who are selling or using firecrackers in the city.
“They can call 911 or Isumbong mo kay CD hotline so we can act immediately on the report,” Dela Rey said.
