The observance of Holy Week in Negros Oriental was generally peaceful, mostly attributed to the security measures in place under the enhanced community quarantine, Col. Julian Entoma, provincial police director, said Monday.
He said that except for the shooting incidents in Guihulngan City on Thursday and Friday, and the arrest of a number of persons on Sunday due to illegal cockfighting in Bayawan City, there were no other serious crimes reported.
This was mainly due to the ECQ, under which a 24-hour curfew has been imposed for senior citizens and students, and 9 p.m.-6 a.m. for the working class, Entoma said.
Also, the imposition of quarantine passes has limited movement of people in the towns and cities as well as cross-border travel, he said.
Church-related activities for the Holy Week through Easter Sunday that required mass gatherings, such as the Stations of the Cross and the Santo Entierro processions were also canceled, thus contributing to the absence of the usual large crowds during the duration of the Christian celebration, he said.
The police director had also warned the public of arrests if they insisted on leaving their homes and spending Easter Sunday on the beach or elsewhere, as there was a directive for people to stay home unless otherwise necessary, he said.
Police personnel patrolling the coastal areas reported that there were no people seen at the beaches on Easter Sunday, he added.
A report from the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) said that in Bayawan City, police arrested eight people for engaging in “tigbakay” or illegal cockfighting in Purok Sampaguita of Barangay Villasol.
The police recovered 29 pieces of gaff, five heads of live fighting cocks, and bet money amounting to more than PHP55,000.
Another report from the NOPPO also said a father was shot dead while his son was injured in a shooting incident on the evening of Good Friday at Sitio Naasug, Barangay McKinley in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
The victims were identified as Rito Acabo, 45, and his son, Rehdams Gems Acabo, 18, both residents of the said place.
A suspect who was riding a motorcycle shot the two for a still unknown motive.
The father was a drug surrenderer and engaged in a bakery business in Guihulngan and nearby La Libertad town.
On Holy Thursday, Belarmino Geron Isolana, 56, a close-in aide of Vice Mayor Ernesto Reyes of Guihulngan City, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding suspects while walking a few meters away from his house.
Isolana was also a drug surrenderer, the NOPPO report said. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)