MANILA, Philippines — Policemen assigned in Luzon and the Visayas were given a post-Holy Week break after the Philippine National Police (PNP) downgraded Tuesday the security alert status it earlier hoisted for the entire Lenten break.

Police forces in Mindanao, as well as the PNP’s elite Special Action Force (SAF), will remain on full alert due to threats posed by various groups like the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) which is blamed for three bomb scares in the island province of Basilan last week.

Director General Raul Bacalzo, PNP chief, said the security alert status in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and the Visayas was placed on heightened alert status effective 8 a.m. Tuesday.

The nationwide full alert status, raised two days before the observance of Palm Sunday, means no policeman is allowed to go on leave as the entire 135,000 personnel of the PNP is needed.

Heightened alert status, on the other hand, means every police unit is required to have at least 50 percent of its personnel present at all times.

“All unit commanders are reminded to secure all PNP camps and offices, vital installations, economic key points, and places of convergence of people and are given discretion to upgrade their alert level based on the prevailing peace and order situation in their respective areas of responsibilities,” said Bacalzo.

The alert status at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame and the National Support Units like the Maritime Group, Highway Patrol Group (HPG), and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) were placed on normal alert.

“We apologize to the families of the policemen for not having them during Holy Week because of the call of duty, we are in charge of the security in this kind of long break so I believe they understand that,” said Director Nicanor Bartolome, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), for his part.

“But we assure them that after the security normalizes, we will give each of our policemen enough time to be with their respective families,” he added.

The PNP leadership, on the other hand, has started training its eyes on the expected nationwide mass demonstrations to mark the Labor Day on May 1 after what it described to be a generally peaceful observance of the Holy Week.

“We are preparing for the celebration of the May 1, this is an annual recurring activity and we will be ready for that,” said Bacalzo, referring to the rallies that are expected to be launched by various militant groups.

Bacalzo, however, was quick to clarify that they did not slacken the security measures, noting that they have to maintain police visibility and implement anti-crime measures especially in beach resorts and areas traditionally being visited during summer break.