Editorial of the Bohol ChronicleSomebody had the nerve to ask who was responsible for calling Tagbilaran a Crime City in last week's editorial. Of course, the Editor in Chief claims full responsibility for that statement.
Having a preponderance of murder, shooting and robberies in almost reckless abandon even before one can rip the page of the January calendar is our basis for the new name of Tagbilaran. It was also enclosed in a question mark - because if it is not yet a Crime City, the records certainly said Tagbilaran City is becoming one.
Consider the records showing that cases of robbery, murder and rape has gone up as compared to last two years.
In the first 22 days of the year, the police recorded a total of 6 murder cases from only 1 and 3 in the same period during the last two months of January in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
A total of 20 robbery cases recorded during the past 22 days means there is thievery almost every day in the city. The figures show an uptrend with only 6 cases in 2006 and 17 in 2007 for comparable period. In the city, the robbers seem to have a special liking for the thickly populated Cogon district. Police has identified some of the so-called police characters. But, surprisingly no "big catch" has yet fallen into the police dragnet.
Worse, the robberies are becoming bolder, from highway holdups in broad daylight and the boldness of rob suspects to enter even rooms of victims. With that kind of crime record, it is clear that we are not living in Bethlehem during the time of Jesus' birth.
We hope this high crime incidence in the city will be consistently checked by PNP authorities. For his part, Mayor Dan Lim expedited the mobilization of "intelligence men" to arrest the suspects. But, it seems his efforts are not enough since there are still cases of robbery happening still. We hereby also call on the barangay captains to spearhead in this context by organizing their tanods as their "intelligence" network in their area.
We know for a fact that PNP Director Edgardo Ingking is a close friend of Mayor Dan Lim and we expect these two officials to blend together into one common direction.
The citizens, in the meantime, must fully defend their residences from intruders from hereon with licensed firearms, rotating household guards and get a dog, for Christ sake. They serve their masters and people far better than most people who claim they do.
Until we solve the crimes reported and stop the unabated incidents of criminality, we stand by our Editorial last week. We may even remove the question mark after "Crime City Tagbilaran?" God forbid.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=8971.0