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Tuesday, August 01, 2006
PNP heads cry foul over ‘risky’ CV tag
Top police officials yesterday downplayed a report tagging Central Visayas as the most dangerous region in the country.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. and Cebu City Police Office Director Melvin Gayotin maintained Central Visayas is relatively peaceful compared to other regions in the country.
“We are not the most dangerous place in the country. Based on the statistics, the trend of the crimes is downward,” Alarcio said.
“Of all the places in the country, they (tourists) find Cebu the most peaceful,” Gayotin said in a separate interview.
Alarcio said he checked on the comparative statistics by regions yesterday morning and Central Visayas, which covers the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor, did not rank first.
“Exaggerated and sensationalized” was how Senior Supt. Vicente Loot described the newspaper report (not Sun.Star Cebu).
“It does not follow that if the crime rate is high, it is dangerous to live here,” Loot told reporters yesterday.
He said the report was just the opinion of the writer, adding that statistics reports of the Philippine National Police were only composed of numbers and had no written comments.
“I don’t think there is a statement in a report alluding to the Central Visayas as dangerous,” he said.
Loot said there may have been a slight increase in the average monthly crime rate in Cebu Province, but their crime solution efficiency is constantly improving.
He also said that non-index crimes, which are a result of police operations, have increased by more than 100 percent.
“This means our policemen are working,” he said.
Kidnap-for-ransom gangs and terrorist groups have also been unable to penetrate the region, which is why it remains a safe place.
He also said the report does not affect him because he knows the “real situation on the ground.”
For his part, Alarcio said 60 percent of the tourists in the country visit Central Visayas and major events such as the Southeast Asian Games held late last year and the December summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are indicators that Cebu is relatively peaceful.
Economic activity and development is also high, he said.
Alarcio ordered Senior Supt. Augusto Marquez Jr., chief of the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division (RIID) to check on the veracity of the report.
He also told Marquez to make a comprehensive report on crime statistics to be presented to the Regional Peace and Order Council.
Gayotin, in a separate interview, said for the past three years crime statistics have consistently decreased, particularly on the crime against properties and street crimes.
He said most of the major incidents that occurred in the city have so far been solved, while noted personalities have also been arrested.
Gayotin, however, admitted that vigilante-style killings, which so far have claimed more than 160 victims, remain a challenge for them to solve.
“In my two years as an officer-in-charge, I was able to reduce the crimes and maintain a generally peaceful city,” Gayotin said. (JST/MEA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 1, 2006 issue)
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