ILOILO – From Jan. 1 to June 6 this year, the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) recorded 42 incidents of theft – 64 percent down from the 115 cases recorded in the same period last year, and even much lower than 2020’s 72 incidents in the same period, too.
As for robbery cases, IPPO’s Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Unit (PIDM) reported 1,029 cases for the period – 61 percent lower than the 79 cases in 2021’s first half.
Article 293 of the Revised Penal Code defines robbery as a crime committed by “any person who, with intent to gain, shall take any personal property belonging to another, by means of violence against or intimidation of any person, or using force upon anything.”
Theft, on the other hand, under Article 308 of the Revised Penal Code is committed by any person who, with intent to gain but without violence against or intimidation of persons nor force upon things, shall take the personal property of another without the latter’s consent.
Police Colonel Adrian Acollado, IPPO director, attributed the drop to the police’s regular patrolling in crime-prone areas following the “crime clock” and “crime map”.
“Our police stations are plotting previous incidents based on location and time of occurrence, and they hew their patrolling on this,” said Acollador.
He also cited the cooperation of barangay tanods and other support groups conducting foot patrol in their respective areas.
Targeted by robbers these past six months were business establishments (12), residential buildings (nine), those in open spaces / streets (four), government buildings (three), and construction sites (one).
Thieves, on the other hand, hit commercial establishments (25), residential buildings (seven), those on open spaces / street (one), farm/ricefield (two), and government establishments (two).
Oton police station recorded the highest number of incidents with five theft incidents, Barotac Nuevo and Barotac Viejo with four incidents each.
With this, Acollador told the station chiefs to sustain the police presence through mobile and foot patrol in crime prone areas and to revitalize the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams, tanods, support groups and other force multipliers to keep the positive momentum in the campaign against robbery and theft.
He also urged business owners to install close circuit television cameras (CCTV) to deter robbers and thieves, and to aid the investigation.
” We call the public to be cautious about their security and safety, and that of their valuables preventing an opportunity for the criminals to accomplish their motives to take advantage of any situation,” he said.
The two of five theft cases in Oton involved gasoline stations.
The first robbery was happened in Barangay Poblacion, Oton, Iloilo on May 19 where a gasoline station was robbed by unknown robbers and carted away P195,608 daily collection.
Rose Caro, 56 of Guimaras, Iloilo discovered the incident at 4:50 a.m., when she about to open the gasoline station.
On March 29 this year, another gas station located at Zulueta Street, Barangay Poblacion, Oton town was also burglarized.
The robbery was discovered at around 7:05 a.m. by gas station attendant Vincent Estos, 32.
The robbers reportedly carted away P480,000 cash.
All these incidents were unsolved.
