ILOILO City – The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) recorded a significant drop – 66.27 percent – in crime volume from July 6 to 12, 2018.
This was equivalent to 29 incidents only, way below the 86 incidents reported during same period last year, said Chief Superintendent Jowel Saliba, ICPO operations chief.
“One of the reasons for the drop in crime volume was our 500 police personnel augmentation. This enhanced police visibility that, in turn, prevented street crimes,” said Saliba.
He bared the statistics as Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas, city police director, insisted that the metropolis remained peaceful and safe despite the recent series of broad daylight shootings.
“Those were isolated cases. For several months Iloilo City was very peaceful. It was unfortunate that those crimes happened,” said Biñas during a recent closed door security meeting with Mayor Jose Espinosa III, officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine Coast Guard, and other members of the Iloilo City Peace and Order Council.
On July 13, quail egg supplier Ranny Bibangco was shot to death by an unidentified armed man at the Iloilo Terminal Market. The next day, tricycle driver Ely Tipanan was also shot dead in Barangay Baldoza, La Paz district.
Espinosa ordered ICPO to solve the incidents.
“Rest assured that the city police is doing steps to solve the problem,” said Biñas.
He dismissed speculations that there were organized crime groups in the city.
As of this writing, however, the city police was still struggling to identify the gunmen in the two cases.
Biñas appealed for the public’s cooperation.
“Crime prevention is everybody’s responsibility, not just the police’s,” he stressed.
Espinosa said the city government will soon provide 15 patrol cars to the ICPO, PDEA and DILG for intensified peace and order measures. (With a report from Merianne Grace Ereñeta, Iloilo City PIO/PN)
