CCPO repositions police presence on the streets

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Police Office has made the necessary realignment of its deployment in the streets starting today following the three different shooting incidents last Friday.

CCPO deputy chief for operations, Police Lt. Colonel Wilbert Parilla, said this is part of their crime prevention operation.

"Mao na no ang usa gipatawag sa atong city director karon, ato ning gi-realign ang atong deployment, atong gitan-aw ug atong obserbaran sa atong personnel ug sa atong mobile," said Parilla.

Over this, Parilla also said that members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team will be patrolling the streets through motorcycles so that the response will be quicker.

The deployment is now distributed over the crime-prone areas.

Parilla said that the police presence will now be seen in the city’s streets as part of their crime prevention efforts.

"In line ni siya (shooting incidents) at the same time every week mao man gyud ni atong gibuhat, ang atoang deployment magdepende sa atong crime incidents so magdepende nga unsa nga klase," said Parilla.

The police will be assessing the effectiveness of this effort by the end of the week and will be adjusting this method for the week if there's a need to.

Last Friday, three different shooting incidents occurred in the city.

At 4:45 a.m., a sidewalk vendor was shot dead in Colon Street in Barangay Pahina Central. The victim was identified as Johaiber Abdulgani, 28, a native of Lanao del Sur but now a resident of the barangay.

Parilla said they have already a person of interest but was facing difficulties in extracting footage from closed-circuit television cameras.

"And then naa lang usa karon but medyo old model na pud na ang CCTV, maong nangita sila og expert na maka-extract sa video, mao na ilang giproblemahan karon kay medyo old model na ang camera and they are hoping nga dili mo-automatic delete because we have already a person of interest," said Parilla.

At around 4 p.m., a 37-year-old resident of Barangay Carreta was shot dead by an unidentified gunman at the Chinese cemetery in the barangay. The victim was identified as Elizabeth Grates, 37, a resident of the barangay.

The police are eyeing drug-related angle as possible motive behind the murder after nine sachets of suspected shabu were seized from her possession after she was shot.

"So they are considering na drug-related gyud ni sya ang kaso because of the account sad sa anak sa biktima, nga duna pud ni syay naka-istorya sa cellphone nga murag nag-away sad ni sila, so before ni sya nahitabo," said Parilla.

Still on the same day at past 5 p.m., Pardo Police Station policemen responded to a shooting alarm in Sitio Calumpang, Barangay Inayawan wherein the victim was identified as Arnel Gaviola.

Police Major Cesar Accompañado said they are leaning their investigation towards the information that Gaviola was a known drug-user and thief in the area.

"Ang pinaka-latest update, ang biktima, although drug-related gihapon ni kay ilado man ni sya nga mang-gamitay..at the same (time) kawatan ni sya sa ilang area, ilado ni, ang mga barangay officials mismo didto ang miingon nga mao ni iyang record," he added.

With this information, Accompañado said they are looking into the possibility that the suspect may be the victim's cohort in the illegal drug trading. A witness has also claimed that he has recognized the suspect. — GMR (FREEMAN)