CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines – Over 20,000 personnel, including policemen, peace volunteers, and security officers, will be tapped to ensure peace and order during Sinulog grand mardi gras on January 15.

This, after the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) estimated that over 3.5 million devotees and spectators will be coming over to the city to take part or watch the religious and cultural spectacle that has come to be associated with the annual Sinulog activities celebrating the feast of the miraculous Sto. Niño de Cebu.

CCPO Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said some 3,000 police officers are expected to be stationed in different areas in Metro Cebu for the Sinulog celebration on Sunday and 10,000 personnel will augment the police force. Another 12,000 will be assigned to control the crowd during the grand mardi gras.

The ratio of security men to revelers is already good, said Buenafe, who added that the number of people helping to secure the activities would decrease drastically if all Cebuanos would do their share to help make the celebration a peaceful one.

Aside from the police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Central Command (Centcom) in Cebu City is also going to send personnel to help out. Centcom will send a total of 12,000 troops and volunteers for three separate occasions related to the Sinulog.

The first will be during the fluvial parade with some 50 personnel to be sent from the Centcom.

The AFP will also send 1,500 cadets from various ROTC units for the solemn procession on Saturday aside from 200 reservists. For the grand parade, there would be 12,000 volunteers comprised of Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) cadets as well as personnel from the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force. .

Meanwhile, as the Sinulog fever starts to get more hot, state weather bureau Pagasa advised revelers to bring umbrellas and rain coats as rains are expected to fall on Cebu City and the rest of the province this coming weekend. Pagasa Mactan weather observer Ponce Garcia said the tail-end of a cold front in Eastern Visayas and Mindanao has been detected. He said residents of flood-prone and landslide areas should evacuate their homes in case of incessant rains.