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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Sunday, January 8, 2017
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ILOILO City – Seven youth gangs disturb the metro’s tranquility mostly at night and they must be stopped, according to the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
These gangs – Sperm, People Stronger, Shoktong, Gore, Street True Side, Roll Up, and Cool Amigos – are made up of mostly out-of-school youths although they have a motley of members going to school, too, said Senior Inspector Shella Mae Sangrines, ICPO spokesperson.
The city police are monitoring the movements of these gangs and are ready to neutralize them, said Sangrines.
The ICPO fears gang violence could erupt during the Dinagyang festivities, the highlights of which are on Jan. 21 and 22.
“More policemen are doing fieldwork especially at night when many Dinagyang Festival tribes are practicing. These gangs are unruly especially at night,” said Sangrines.
Of particular concern to the city police are gang members who are minors (those below the legal age of 18).
Sangrines said the ICPO’s investigation section and Women and Children Protection Desk will be discussing this concern with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
But one direct intervention the ICPO is taking is summoning the identified leaders of the gangs to a meeting.
“We will meet with the leaders, and even better if their members will be coming over, too. They will be told not to create trouble. Should they remain uncooperative, the police will be relentless in conducting saturation drives against the gangs,” said Sangrines.
The ICPO will be strictly enforcing the curfew for minors, too, she added.
The police official called out the parents of the gang members. She said they will be held liable, too, for their children breaking the curfew ordinance for minors.
A series of gang violence have been rocking the city since last year but stripped of his power over the police, all that Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog can do now is make an appeal to the city’s law enforcers.
“I cannot anymore order the police what to do. But I hope the incident would prompt the city police to tighten security measures in the area,” said Mabilog.
He was referring to the fatal shooting of a teenager outside the Smallville entertainment complex in Mandurriao district on Nov. 13, 2016. The 18-year-old Vincent Albert Tan of Barangay Ticud, La Paz district was allegedly part of a group of young people the police called Shoktong.
On Oct. 27, 2016 the National Police Commission (Napolcom) Region 6 received an order from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Napolcom central office stripping Mabilog of authority over the ICPO. This was almost three months after President Rodrigo Duterte publicly branded him a drug coddler.
The November shooting left Tan dead and 29-year-old Robert Angelo Lozada of Barangay Daanbanwa, Lambunao, Iloilo wounded.
Despite the DILG and Napolcom order against him, Mabilog said the city government will continue to support the ICPO.
“Ang akun subong, kun ano ang ila kinahanglanon nga bulig. Bal-an nyo naman nga wala kita mahimo kun ano ang resulta. Pero ang suporta ara man gihapon,” said Mabilog.
The mayor is prohibited from issuing directives for the conduct of operations to stop illegal activities and neutralize criminal syndicates. He also cannot anymore determine police operational strategies nor direct the employment and deployment of units or elements of the ICPO.
So what can Mabilog do? He said he planned to facilitate a meeting between barangay officials and policemen to discuss the problem on gangsterism.
On Oct. 29, 2016 a grenade exploded near a skate park n Barangay East Baluarte, Molo district. Senior Inspector Mark Cordero, Molo police chief, did not discount the possibility that warring groups of young skating enthusiasts may be behind the blast.
They often hanged out at the park, said Cordero./PN
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