CONFISCATED. The police confiscate bags and umbrellas from party-goers. The organizers have announced earlier that those items will be prohibited inside. (Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
By May Anne Love Deseo
DAVAO CITY — Soon after President-elect Rodrigo Duterte gave his speech, a number of people complained that their umbrellas and backpacks were missing.
Loti Abad, 50, and a resident of Sto. Niño Matina said she remembered tying two umbrellas in a plastic bag and hung the bag on the canopy.
But after the Thanksgiving Party, dubbed One Love, One Nation, Abad and several other attendees found their personal belongings missing.
“Gipabilin nila ang payong, diba misunod ta sa protocol nila, karon unsa atoang gibalikan? Wala (They told us to leave our umbrellas and we followed their protocol, now where are our belongings? We cannot find it anymore),” said Loti Abad, 50, a resident of Sto. Niño, Matina, who lost two umbrellas that night.
Abad also lamented that they were asked to find their missing stuff themselves.
“Asa nato pangitaon? (Where are we going to find it now?),” she said.
Romeo Amistoso Jr, 19, said he had turned in his “new” backpack but it could not be found afterward.
Many other complaints circulated in the area, while waiting for the rain to stop. A woman claimed she had left her wallet in her backpack which contained her money and ATM cards.
The organizers previously announced that bringing backpacks and umbrellas will be prohibited.
‘Lesson learned’
Inspector Camarillo Gregorio, the assigned head of sector 2 entrance inspection area, said that he will accept verbal complaints as well as complaints written “in black and white” at the Davao City Police Office (DCPO).
Gregorio said that they were given a directive that prohibited items were definitely not to be brought inside.
He added that they did not expect that such incident would happen. “It could be a lesson learned,” he said.
The DCPO said more or less 500,000 people attended the thanksgiving party. (davaotoday.com)
