EARTH Hour 2010 ticked past peacefully in Cebu City, with no major crimes being reported during the 60 minutes when parts of city switched their lights off.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patro-cinio Comendador Jr. said there were neither shooting incidents nor major robberies from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. last Saturday.
The police hotline 166 received only four alarms within the period—two trouble alarms, one request for police protection and one domestic trouble.
“Mingaw man kayo (It was very quiet),” an operator of the emergency hotline told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
At the Waterfront Police Station, a woman reported that a thief stole her cash at 9:10 p.m. at the corner of Manalili and Borromeo Sts., Barangay Sto. Nino.
Leslie Cantel, 28, an employee of the Mactan Economic Zone II in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, said she was walking along the road after withdrawing cash from an automated teller machine (ATM) when a lone man held her up at knife-point.
The man took her pouch. Inside it were her wallet with P1,700, a Professional Regulatory Commission license card, certified public accountant’s identification card, company identification card, her ATM card and other valuables.
Cantel described the suspect as about 5’7" tall, of medium build and in his early 40s.
Comendador ordered “maximum deployment” of personnel to the streets to keep residents safe while the lights were off.
Apart from maintaining police visibility, officers also helped man traffic when parts of the city plunged into darkness last Saturday night.
The CCPO also did their share in the campaign against global warming by turning off unnecessary lights at the headquarters inside the Camp Sotero Cabahug compound on Gorordo Ave.
Comendador earlier said all the police stations and operations section were supposed to keep their lights on for security reasons.
Earth Hour is a global campaign to make people aware of climate change, its effects and what they can do to minimize it.
But for one resident, the minutes right after Earth Hour proved traumatic. At 9:55 p.m., a Japanese national reported to the Fuente Osmeña Police Station that two men on a motorcycle robbed him.
Akihiro Shimoe, 21, who temporarily resides on Echavez St., Barangay Lorega San Miguel, said he lost his bag to the robbers.
Shimoe told the police he was standing along the road when the motorcycle boarded by two men stopped in front of him.
The passenger allegedly pointed a knife at him and declared a holdup.
His bag contained his digital camera worth 9,800 yen, sunglasses worth 31,500 yen, a Nokia cell phone worth P5,000, a wallet with P1,000 inside and wrist watch worth 100 pounds.