ILOILO City is generally safe, especially to the law abiding citizens, but "very dangerous" for those who will violate the law, said police officials who were invited to the City Council's regular session Wednesday, September 19.
The Iloilo City Police Office (Icpo) officials were invited to the session due to the series of killings in Iloilo that caused "anxiety" to the public. Perpetrators in the cases remained unidentified.
But former Icpo director Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas told the council that there is a decrease of 24.66 percent in the crime volume of the city from January 1 to September 13 based on police records.
He said the city remains “generally safe”.
Councilor Armand Parcon earlier pointed out the nine killings that happened in a span of one week. The killings involved individuals who were engaged in drug-related activities.
“We all know that the tranquility or the peacefulness of the city partly or greatly can be attributed to the campaign against illegal drugs. If we cannot address the problem on illegal drugs now, there will be another problem on the peace and order in the years to come,” Biñas said.
He assured that the police are investigating the incidents.
“With regard to the killings, we are investigating the cases, but in the conduct of investigation, there are some cases that we cannot address immediately, but rest assured that the investigation division or branch of the Icpo, as well as the other investigating unit of the PNP (Philippine National Police) are looking into this,” Biñas said.
He added that they have not received any complaints on the matter and they presumed that their “operation is regular and no irregularities.”
The new Icpo director, Senior Superintendent Martin Defensor, also assured the council that he will uphold his job with “regularity and in accordance with the law” to maintain the peace and order in the city. (SunStar Philippines)