ILOILO City – There has been a surge in robbery, murder and rape incidents in this city, according to the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
From January to July last year, the city police recorded 31 cases of robbery but this year in the same period, there were already 47 cases.
Also, according to ICPO spokesperson Police Captain Shella Mae Sangrines, there were 27 rape cases since January this year; last year the city police recorded 19 cases only from January to July.
As for murder, 12 cases were recorded last year in the first seven months while this year, there were 14 already.
According to Sangrines, “riding-in-tandem” killings contributed to the surge in murder cases, referring to shootings perpetrated by motorcycle-riding assassins with mostly drug personalities as victims.
Regarding the rise in rape cases, Sangrines said, “Sometimes drinking sessions in parties resulted to sexual violence.”
Some of the rape victims were teenagers, she revealed, and some of the suspects were known to the victims (relatives or friends).
The ICPO spokesperson offered a theory regarding the increase in robbery cases: the nonstop campaign against illegal drugs forced hard-up traffickers to shift to stealing./PN
