Starting Sunday, churches to have baggage counters

By JOEY NACALABAN
Correspondent . 

CITY police director Nelson Aganon has ordered churches and other places of worship secured as part of ongoing security measures following Sunday’s bomb attacks in Jolo, Sulu. And to further tighten security, baggage counters would be set up outside the churches starting on Sunday.

Senior Supt. Aganon said the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office has coordinated with church leaders especially at the St. Agustine Cathedral.

Aganon said no churchgoers with packages, backpacks and other similar bags would be asked to leave their belongings to the barrage counters.

The police, he said, would be fielding officers with highly trained bomb-sniffing dogs to secure the cathedral and other big churches in an effort to prevent a repeat of the Jolo bombings that left 20 people dead and 111 others hurt.

Msgr. Rey Monsanto, a consultor of the local Roman Catholic archdiocese, said welcomed the police move.

“Aduna gyud hinoon nay kahasol ug pagkadugay kay dili baya basta-basta ang kadaghanon sa manimbahay, pero musabot ra gihapon na sila kay para man na sa ilang safety,” Monsanto said.

Aganon said that in order to avoid delay, the priests should discourage churchgoers from bringing bags or packages when going to the church.

Aganon said similar the security measures have been ordered for other convergence areas such as malls, terminals and markets, among others.

A similar thing is being done by security forces in Davao City that have prohibited the bringing of backpacks and bulky plastic bags and boxes inside places of worship.

Davao Mayor Sara Duterte the measure came after she asked the police and military to review their security plan for Davao.

In an interview at the sidelines of the 51st Annual Installation of Officers and Board of Trustees of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. at the Marco Polo Hotel, the mayor said she will not place the city in a lockdown.

A lockdown on top of a martial law in Mindanao which has been implemented since May 23, 2017, Day 1 of the Marawi siege, “will be very bad for the economy,” she explained.

Davao’s  City Information Office, Public Safety and Security Command Center head Benito de Leon advised churchgoers to bring only small handbags or purses to allow security forces to monitor suspicious activities more efficiently.

“In that manner, we could avoid an incident, wherein some malicious individuals could put in explosive devices in backpacks, the same scheme that happened in Jolo,” de Leon added.

But he said churchgoers are advised to submit themselves for inspection if they could not avoid the bringing of big bags.

Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles has also released an order prohibiting bags, backpacks, knapsacks, boxes, and the like inside churches, and allowing only small purses. (with reports from Antonio Colina IV of Mindanews)