COTABATO CITY — Police here said the merrymaking during Christmas Eve was generally peaceful and no untoward incidents were reported.
“The entire city was peaceful, and no firecracker explosions nor indiscriminate firing of guns were heard in welcoming Christmas Day,” said Senior Supt. Rolly Octavio, city police director, in an interview by newsmen here on Tuesday.
After getting security assessment from the police and Army-led Task Force Kutawato, Cotabato City Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi lifted the 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew to allow revelers to welcome Christmas.
Soldiers of the Army’s Special Forces Battalion and Cotabato City police personnel were deployed in all Catholic churches that celebrated the Christmas Eve mass.
Fielded along major city streets were armored personnel carriers that gave city residents the feeling of security as they welcomed Christmas Day.
Sayadi, in a message, appealed to city residents to make the celebration peaceful and refrain from using firecrackers or fire guns. A city ordinance bans the sale, distribution, and use of firecrackers in welcoming Christmas and the New Year.
Octavio also appealed to civilian firearm owners to refrain from firing their guns, warning them of consequences should they use their weapons during the revelry.
For the past four years, no single victim of firecrackers and stray bullets were listed in the city as compared to several years back when the least number of stray bullet injuries was at five.
