ALARMED by the number of killings in the last few weeks, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will issue an executive order (EO) to address criminality.
A Technical Working Group will draft the provisions of the EO and present it to the governor this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Talisay City had amended its traffic code to include a ban on full-face helmets among motorcycle drivers, as one way to prevent crime.
Provincial Attorney Marino Martinquilla said the technical working group includes representatives from the police, National Bureau of Investigation, Regional State Prosecutor’s Office and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
The EO, he said, will create an anti-criminality task force, patterned after the anti-insurgency task force created by former governor Pablo Garcia, the governor’s father.
Martinequilla said the EO will also include “holistic provisions” such as on witness protection, rewards and incentives, and prosecution.
There was no word yet yesterday on who will head the task force.
Garcia met with the police chiefs and other law enforcement agencies yesterday. It was their second meeting on the spate of killings in Cebu. The new regional directors of the NBI and police, Atty. Edward Villarta and Ager Ontog Jr., attended the meeting.
Some officials who also attended the meeting were Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director Adrian Alvarino, outgoing Cebu City Police Office Director Patrocinio Comendador Jr., Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane, Mandaue City Police Office Director Noel Gillamac, Cebu Provincial Police Office Acting Director Erson Digal, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7 Director Ramon Rafael and Lapu-Lapu City Police Director Mariano Natuel.
As one of its steps against crime, Talisay City officials banned the use of full-face helmets by motorcycle drivers.
Most of the culprits in recent drive-by shootings and ambush attacks used motorcycles and helmets that concealed their identities.
Vice Mayor Alan Bucao, who proposed the ban, said he noticed that some crimes remained unsolved because of the failure to identify the culprits. Bucao presides over the council and heads the committee on peace and order and public safety.