Police eye the use of secret marshals

In response to the clamor of the public for a safer community after the death of a 19-year-old coed the other day, the police are now planning to deploy secret marshals in jeepneys to help stop robberies.

Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio, director of the Police Regional Office-7, has ordered all city and provincial directors to deploy secret marshals as part of an intensified campaign against crimes taking place in Public Utility Jeepneys.

While the regional police director gave this order and with the people still reeling from the death of Carmela Cabañog, who was shot dead by a PUJ robber last Wenesday, another suspected jeepney robber was arrested in the town of Minglanilla.

Irate residents of minglanilla ganged up on Leonardo Paraiso, Jr., a 26-year-old resident of barangay Tubod in that town, who was arrested after he held up a girl and later stabbed a man.

The arrest of Paraiso came after a long chase that started in barangay Tungkop and ended in barangay Pakigne, about three kilometers away.

Secret Marshals

The use of the secret marshals is believed to be a major deterrent to crime since the criminal elements would now have second thoughts before they rob jeepneys knowing that one of the passengers might be an undercover policeman.

Policemen from special units will be among those tapped to serve as secret marshals.

In a command conference, Alarcio also ordered the police chiefs to intensify random checkpoints and study the "crime clocks" in their areas of responsibility.

The "crime clock" is a statistical compilation of the crimes indicating what time they happen. This allows the police to study the pattern of the commission of crimes.

Alarcio also pushed for more police visibility and the full utilization of the policemen under the Field Training Program (FTP), who are detailed here in preparation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

One major hitch with the use of the FTP policemen is the lack of firearms. Most of the policemen sent here to augment the local force are doing office work due to the lack of weapons for their use during patrols.

Cebu City Police Office director Melvin Gayotin said that the FTP policemen assigned to his command are sent out with his men when they do patrols.

Police believed that knowing that marshals are deployed onboard passenger jeepneys plying the city lanes, a robber might be discourage and would rather go home or risk getting arrested.



The Cebu City Police has a force of only more than 900 men tasked to maintain peace and order in 80 barangays with 1.5 million permanent and transient residents.

Robber Nabbed

Paraiso was arrested after a chase that took him through several barangays in the town of Minglanilla before he was evetually cornered by the residents and policemen in Spring Village, barangay Pakigne.

The suspect allegedly snatched the cellular phone of a 17-year-old girl inside a passenger multicab in barangay Tungkop yesterday noon.

The victim, Chris Dianne Babao, single, a caregiving student and a resident of Villadolid, Carcar town, was on her way home to Carcar when the incident happened.

She was answering a call when the suspect grabbed her phone and was forced to give it up when Paraiso whipped out a fan knife.

The suspect reportedly tried to take another ride when the people from the community chased him.

Paraiso was struck by a piece of wood by Roger Esclevano, 45, of Inoburan, Naga. He however managed to retaliate and stabbed Esclevano on the chest.

The victim has been brought to the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

After stabbing his victim, Paraiso managed to ride a tricycle and the people continued to chase him until the area near the town proper. He even managed to hide in an area with thick vegetation, but was surprised to see the people waiting in ambush when he went out.

He again managed to cling to a minibus, but later had to get off in Calajoan, but still could not lose the people chasing him. Parasio reportedly ran towards the Pakigne Bridge and followed the river trail, but was caught when he reached the area just outside Spring Village.

When the suspect was brought to the police station, the snatching victim positively identified him and her mobile phone, which was in Paraiso's possession.- with Norvie S. Misa