Monday, September 15, 2008 Chief orders special attention on crime situation in Mandaue
THE Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 will wait for Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes’ letter seeking the relief of Senior Supt. Rodel Calungsud before pulling out the city director from his post.
In the meantime, PRO 7 Director Ronald Roderos said he directed Regional Intelligence Division Chief Melvin Ramon Buenafe to “analyze the situation” in Mandaue and make the necessary corrections.
He added they might conduct either a saturation drive or a night-watch effort, but refused to elaborate on them.
This, as Cebu sixth district Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz called on Cortes to convene the City’s peace and order council.
Like Cortes and Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna, she criticized the police for “passing the buck” instead of doubling its crime prevention effort.
“When the lease of RDAK vehicles was not renewed by the new administration last year, the same police force had limited vehicles for almost the entire second half of 2007, yet it did not complain of a notable surge in the crime rate,” she said in a press statement.
She also asked Cortes to “convene for the first time the peace and order council to plot strategies on how to bring down the incidence of crime in the city for the next four months of the year.”
Roderos, on the other hand, also issued a clarification on Calungsud citing the lack of vehicles as something that hampered the police from performing better.
Roderos said statistics presented during the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) meeting covered the January to August period.
But the number of crimes, he said, began to dwindle by June after the vehicles were distributed to them sometime in May.
But because Calungsud’s presentation to the RPOC included the months of January to May, the figures showed an increase in crime volume and index crimes.
Roderos said there was a surge in theft cases, which contributed to the 13-percent increase in crime volume in Mandaue.
He already directed Deputy Regional Director for Operations Drusillo Bolodo to coordinate with Cortes on his choice for Mandaue City Police Office’s officer-in-charge.
Before a permanent city director can be appointed, the Senior Officers Placement and Promotions Board of Camp Crame has to decide on a list of five qualified officers.
The list will be furnished to Cortes for him to choose Mandaue’s police chief.
Until Cortes chooses from the list approved by the SOPPB, Roderos said they will confer with the mayor on designating an officer-in-charge.
Roderos acknowledged that as the local chief executive, Cortes has the prerogative to ask for another “if he has lost confidence” in the current police chief.
As for Cortes’ complaint on Calungsud not briefing the mayor’s office on the presentation made before the RPOC meeting, Roderos agreed the police official is required to brief Cortes regularly, depending on their arrangement. (MEA)
