Monday, November 13, 2006
Money transfer company seeks police assistance
THREE direct agents of Western Union have sought police assistance to solve the rising cases of robberies and break-ins in their branches nationwide.
Evelyn R. Singson, president of eBusiness Services Inc. (eBiz), who also spoke in behalf of the two other direct agents of Western Union, PetNet Inc. and Universal Storefront Services Corp. (USSC), appealed for an “urgent dialogue” with PNP Chief Oscar Calderon on how to protect Western Union agents.
In a letter to Calderon dated Oct. 31, Singson said that from January to October this year, there were 23 cases of robberies and break-ins on their branches nationwide.
EBiz has had six robberies and one burglary, PetNet two robberies and USSC 13 robberies and one burglary.
For this year, though, no branches of the three agents in Cebu were so far victimized by robbers and burglars.
In October 2005, an eBiz branch of Western Union at Raintree Mall on F. Ramos St., Cebu City was robbed by three men armed with .45 pistols. They ran away with P745,000 in Philippine and US currencies.
Based on the data Singson enclosed in her letter to the police, most of the cases happened in their branches in Luzon and Mindanao.
“Millions of pesos have already been lost, through hold-ups and break-ins and in two instances we have lost lives. These incidents are definitely not good for our economy, (they) undermine the safety of employees and customers and hamper our ability to service the needs of the general public and the OFW (overseas Filipino workers) in particular,” Singson’s letter said.
The letter said that some members of the Management Association of the Philippines, where Singson is also the president, share the three agents’ concern over the rising criminality in the country.
Acting on Singson’s letter, Camp Crame has issued a memorandum ordering all police regional offices in the country to submit reports to the PNP Directorate for Operations not later than Nov. 20.
The Police Regional Office 7 has sent the information to all its city and provincial police offices. (JST)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 13, 2006 issue)
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