CEBU, Philippines - Following a series of robbery incidents involving soft drink and beer dealers, Cebu Provincial Police Office director Patrocinio Comendador has offered to provide police escorts for them.
Comendador said he now sees the need for salesmen to coordinate with the police and request for escorts every time they have deliveries in the province. He said they are willing to provide them escorts if they ask for it.
Comendador also suggested to traders not to schedule their delivery in manner that their activities could be patterned.
On Monday another sales agent was robbed in Barangay Poog in Toledo City. Allan Arcilla and his helper Jun-Jun Penserya were robbed of their sales amounting to P23,000 and a cellular phone. The victims work for Fortuna Trading.
Two unidentified motorcycle-riding robbers armed with an unknown caliber handgun robbed them while they were delivering canned goods and school supplies in a store.
So far the police have already arrested four suspected robbers believed to be among those who have been victimizing sales agents in the different towns and component cities of the province.
The suspects, Rommel Adaro, 21, of Zamboanga del Norte; Jordan Bariuit, 21, of Naga City; Jomar Placencia, 21 of Daanbantayan town, and Joseph Lawas, 33, of Danao City, were arrested by the Toledo City police in their hideout in Naga City after their cohort Edward Abao, 24, of Mizamis Oriental guided the law enforcers.
The arrest led to the recovery of assorted firearms believed to have been used in their operation.
Comendador believes that aside from them there could still be three other groups linked with them.
“Possible compartmentalized ang grupo, possibly duna pay two to three groups based on their modus,” he said.
A Northwest Anti-Robbery Task Force, which comprise of policemen from the police stations located in the Northwest of Cebu, was already created.
The task force is headed by Superintendent Teofilo Siclot, deputy provincial director for operations.
“We have leads and we patterned their movements,” the provincial director said. – (FREEMAN)