CEBU, Philippines - The whole Central Visayas, which includes the province of Cebu, has been declared a “Conflict Manageable†and “Development-ready†region by the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC)-7.
This announcement from RPOC-7 was made during its meeting yesterday at the Capitol’s Social Hall. Central Command chief Major General John Bonafos explained that conflict manageable and development-ready means violent incidences have weakened or minimized.
“Violent incidence that can be inflicted by an armed group ay di na ganun kataas ang level. Kung meron mang kaguluhang mangyayari, maitratrato natin na isolated cases na lang di kagaya nung dati na panay-panay na may violent incidents,†Bonafos said.
Three provinces in region-7, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor, have been reportedly declared as insurgent-free while Negros Oriental is “on its way†of becoming such.
“As far as insurgency problems are concerned, naibaba na natin to inconsequential level yung mga capability ng armed group insurgents dito sa Central Visayas,†Bonafos told the media, adding that government is on the “winning side†when peace and security is concerned.
After establishing peace, the government would then focus on deve-lopment.
Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III and Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto, chairman of the RPOC, commended the effort of the law enforcers. They are further calling for an active participation of the community to help in curbing crimes.
“We need to increase the police visibility. We also need the active parti-cipation of the community. The crimes usually happen in the community. They should cooperate or give information that would lead to the apprehension. Ang uban mahadlok but part man na sa ilang duty,†said Davide, in a separate interview.
Different agencies that converged during the meeting yesterday include the Centcom, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7, Police Regional Office, and Department of Interior and Local Government.
Meanwhile, Cebu Province posted the highest number of total crime volume with 4, 285 crimes from January to April this year, according to the Police Regional Office-7.
This is followed by Cebu City with 4, 285 crimes, Negros Oriental with 3, 200, Mandaue City with 2, 416, Bohol with 2, 250, Lapu-Lapu City with 1, 515, and Siquijor with 121.
However, these statistics show a 5.8 percent decrease number in the total crime volume compared to the same period last year. Last year, Central Visayas has recorded 20,616 crimes while this year has reduced to 19, 420 crimes.
The highest number of index crime volume this year is theft with 4, 571 cases, followed by physical injury (3,5449), robbery (1,653), murder (241), carnapping (374), homicide (172), rape (187), and cattle-rustling (34).
However, the presentation showed that police’s target commitment to 30 percent reduction of crimes was not achieved.
There is 25.09 percent decrease number of crimes involving the use of firearms and a 7.50 decrease in motorycyle-riding criminials. Cebu City and Cebu Province tops the records with 133 crimes involving the use of firearms 20 motorcycle-riding crimes, respectively.
With the decrease of crime volume, Police officials said, “Central Visayas is a safe place to live, work, study and do business.†— Jean Marvette A. Demecillo, Michael Vencynth H. Braga with Sherwin Oro Gabrinez (UP MassCom Intern)/BAL (FREEMAN)