Thursday, August 23, 2007 Police region chief meets bankers,suggests moves against robberies
WORRIED by recent robberies, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal urged the Catholic flock to come together and fight the advanced tactics of robbers.
“For some time, they study the moves. Maybe they are ahead of us, maybe several steps ahead of us. So bakit ‘di tayo humabol sa kanila (So why don’t we catch up)?” Vidal told reporters after he officiated the requiem mass for Our Lady of Fatima parish priest Bishop Vicente Manuel.
While passing blame is “a very, very human act,” the archbishop said he wished everyone could “come together, study what the robbers are doing, and prepare ourselves.”
But two bank robberies in just eight days in Metro Cebu are no cause for alarm, said Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr., who met yesterday with the Cebu Bankers’ Club (CBC) and the Philippine Association of Detective and Protective Agency Operators (Padpao).
“We’re here to discuss among ourselves what will be our counter-measures,” he told reporters after the meeting.
The emergency meeting was called after two groups ran away with over P2 million from a bank teller who had just picked up cash from La Nueva Supermart last Aug. 13, and a still undeclared amount from the Peninsula Rural Bank Inc. in Mandaue last Aug. 21.
Licensed
Participants took up policies, strategies, a coordination system among agencies, intelligence functions and operations.
“We will be moving forward and make some plans...The police will be providing us with some issues on how to counter the incidents that happened and on how to improve our preparedness,” said CBC vice president Zosimo Lim of the meeting.
It was also a venue to iron out improvements, explained PRO 7 Deputy Director for Administration Ronald Roderos. He noted three factors: counter-measures against robbers, quality of security guards hired and performance of banks on robberies.
Padpao 7 executive vice president Atty. Lamberto Mangubat raised some suggestions to improve the hiring processes of security agency operators.
Operators should ensure that personnel are licensed security guards. “Licensed, meaning, the security guard has credentials, has undergone training, drug tests and has submitted all security clearances,” Mangubat told reporters.
Drills
As for the bankers, Roderos said that banks should conduct a robbery drill to train staff in dealing with such attacks, as well as facing police investigators and journalists.
The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) is not discounting the possibility organized groups other than the alleged Bohol Robbery Group pulled the robberies.
Supt. Erson Digal, CPPO deputy provincial director for operations, observed that the style of the robberies was similar to what happened in robberies in Ozamiz City.
Digal will head the anti-robbery task group that will be reactivated, as ordered by CPPO Acting Director Carmelo Valmoria.
“We will be utilizing the Special Reaction Unit (SRU) for this purpose. They will develop information. Based on this, they will act not only during robbery cases but also during other organized crimes,” Valmoria told reporters.
While Valmoria considered the Penbank robbery in Mandaue as “not yet alarming,” he urged the community and business to coordinate and cooperate with the police.
Guards’ job
“Everything is possible. Cebu Province could be next. This is why we are increasing our security measures,” said Valmoria.
In an earlier interview, PRO 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. stressed the need for owners of establishments and bank management to appreciate the importance of security.
“If you give these robbers the opportunity, they’ll do it. But if you make it hard for them, they will hesitate. Let us come up with a serious effort to really protect our interests,” Alarcio said.
Business and bank managers could help the police by primarily assigning security guards to focus on their tasks and not ask them to do other chores like opening the door or preparing coffee.
Putting up a bounty against robbery suspects will also encourage the community to participate in the immediate arrest of the robbers, Alarcio added. (NRC/JGA/JST)
