MANILA, Philippines — Director General Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered on Saturday tighter police security for the traditional Simbang Gabi, or Misa de Gallo. The traditional nine-day dawn Masses starts on Dec. 16 and ends on Dec. 24, or Christmas Eve. He also instructed field commanders to deploy mobile patrol units with their blinkers switched on to establish police presence. Police units were also reminded to coordinate with barangay officials in monitoring crimes that might take place during the nine-day dawn masses. Albayalde also said that selected members of the PNP Command Group and Directorial Staff designated as area supervisors would conduct random inspections to ensure that PNP units would comply with his directive.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 15, 2018 09:56 UTC