ILOILO City – Police Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, new director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), is pushing for more focused efforts to counter motorcycle-riding suspects in the highly-urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
PRO-6 has existing Motorized Anti-Street Crime Operating (MASCO) teams, tasked to chase criminals such as snatchers on motorcycles and respond to emergencies.
Miranda wants to strengthen these units by providing support and proper training for them to become more effective.
He recently met all the city and provincial police directors in the region.
The MASCO teams, according to Miranda, should not just respond to crime incidents, but must also be proactive in enforcing the Land Transportation and Traffic Laws as well as traffic ordinances implemented by local governments units.
“This will help us prevent motor vehicles to be used in committing crimes such as robbery, murder and other street crimes,” Miranda said.
Moreover, the MASCO teams will also perform other police interventions to include “Oplan Bakal” and “Oplan Sita” since motorcycles are often used as getaway vehicles by criminals.
PRO-6 records showed that from January to November this year, a total of 90 crimes were committed by motorcycle-riding suspects.
Of the 90 cases, 43 were murder, 20 were physical injuries, 15 were robbery, seven were theft, three were rape and two were motornapping.
“I am hopeful that this would address our problems in crimes committed by motorcycle-riding suspects,” Miranda said./PN
