Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria and police chief James Goforth appealed for strong community support and participation to help curb criminality, amid rising public criticism and fear over the perceived unsafe environment prevailing in Dumaguete City.

Both admitted that the police and the city government cannot do the task of maintaining peace and order and reducing criminality in Dumaguete City by themselves.

They said an increased crime rate is not unusual for a growing city with an increasing population and other considerations, so the cooperation and participation of the community are needed in crime-fighting.

The calls were sounded repeatedly in several instances and venues after the series of shooting incidents in Dumaguete since the start of 2014.

Public clamor for tighter security measures continues to rise over the broadcast and social media, which Sagarbarria has lamented, saying it was unfair for the people to say that the city government and the police are not doing enough to address criminality, specifically the illegal drugs problem.

NINE CASES IN 2014

A police report presented in a multi-sectoral forum Monday evening at the Marian Priests’ Center at the Cathedral compound in Dumaguete showed that, from January 1 to February 24 this year, nine shooting incidents were recorded in the city.

Four were in January and five in February. The latest incident on Monday was a daytime shooting incident where a man believed to have been involved in the illegal numbers game, “swertres”, was killed.

Of the nine cases, five were related to the illegal drugs trade while the other four had different motives, Goforth said in the forum. He did not elaborate, however, which cases were drug-related.

Five of the victims in the shooting incidents died while the others were injured, he added.

Of the four shooting cases in January, two were killed: Elmo Andres Catadman and Carl Bryan Catan, who were gunned down by suspects riding in tandem on motorcycles. The case remains unsolved.

Timothy Fleischer Angar and Leomar Mandeoya, meanwhile, were shot and injured in the same month. Both cases were considered solved by the police.

In February, four of the five victims of shooting were killed: Neil Bryan Callao, Rommel Calidguid, Pedro Miguiabas and Louie Barrera. Arjay Sitoy Legaspi survived the attack.

CASES SOLVED, UNSOLVED

Three of the five cases in February remain unsolved, while the Barrera shooting, is still under investigation.

Goforth said that, based on the guidelines and parameters of the Philippine National Police, cases deemed solved by the police are those where the victim, or his/her family, is not interested in pursuing or filing a case, when a case has already been filed in court against a suspect who is still at large, and when a suspect has been arrested and charged in court.

Goforth admitted it is difficult for them to pursue a case against a potential suspect if the victim, or that person’s family, does not cooperate, or is not interested in filing a case against the perpetrator.

Once a case has been filed, it is closed as far as the police is concerned, as it is already in the court.

Both Sagarbarria and Goforth lamented that oftentimes, witnesses refuse to cooperate with the police even if it was very obvious that they were present when the crime was committed.*JFP

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