Friday, August 17, 2007 Editorial: City of hold-ups
REPORTS on the series of holdups in Bacolod are quite disturbing. For a week only, two to three hold-up incidents happen in Bacolod. And, the pattern as well as the suspects is almost the same based on police investigation.
If City Police Chief Ronilo Quebrar is to be believed, they're doing their job well to arrest the suspects, and most of all, to put an end to this crime.
He even said they're not sleeping on the holdup cases. Nice to hear that kind of statement coming from the City Police Director
But where's the action? Where's the result?
Last Monday, Carmela Malayang, businesswoman-planter, was held up in the busy street of Lacson at around 11:30 a.m. The three motor-riding suspects then carted away her P100,000 cash intended for the payroll of her laborers in Cadiz City.
While the police were busy tracking down the suspects, another holdup incident took place at Alijis just a day after the Malayang holdup. The victims were an Indian national and his aide. Motor-riding suspects however got only about P7,000 in cash.
Again, Quberar vowed to look into the case and promised a solution to it.
However, Quebrar's promise about hold-up cases has been reported from time-to-time since last year. It's like a "broken record".
There were some already arrested but why there's still holdup incidents almost everyday in the City. Is Quebrar only being tested or challenged? But what if until Masskara in October or Christmas in December, the holdup cases will remain to be unabated in Bacolod? Quebrar should act now, or else, Bacolod will no longer be called the "City of Smiles" but the "City of Holdups" soon.
Bad to hear but hope Mayor Evelio Leonardia could take now an action on Quberar and the rampant occurrence of holdup cases there. Because after all, the City's name and credibility are the ones at stake here and not of Quebrar who is only retiring if not this year, may be next year.
