After mall robbery: Carcar City Police Station chief loses post

CEBU, Philippines - The police chief of Carcar City where a mall robbery took place Saturday night will lose his post after several "failures."

Senior Superintendent Clifford Gairanod, Cebu Province Police Office director, said Superintendent Brendo Nacario will be removed as Carcar City Police Station chief for his inability to improve his performance — a reminder made even during the time of Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan as Police Regional Office-7 director.

Chief Superintendent Patrocinio Comendador Jr., who is now the PRO-7 chief, has ordered Gairanod to identify the robbers and arrest them as soon as possible.

"I know there's already progress in the investigation. Our men are going after them.  Hopefully there will be chance to arrest them," Comendador said.

 He said it is Gairanod's prerogative to replace Nacario as Carcar's top police official, only reminding that it should be "objective and fair."

Comendador said the robbers likely found a loophole in the deployment and efficiency of the Carcar police, whom he said were not able to close the gap.

This early, however, he said he received no reporters that the incident had something to do with the elections.

Gairanod, meanwhile, said that for the incident, in which two security guards got shot, Nacario should take the fall.

"The COP (chief of police) should be answerable for his actions," Gairanod said.

He said his marching order to Nacario on his appointment was to "shape up and shine," particularly on solving Carcar City's traffic problem, which is the "worse" in the province.  Gairanod said he never failed to remind Nacario and the other police chiefs but Nacario has not made the appropriate effort.

Aside from that, Gairanod said he also found several lapses on the part of the Carcar police in responding to the Gaisano Super Metro robbery.

There was a report that said the robbers struck only after a patrol car passed by.

Gairanod said that the Regional Intelligence Division-7 is now reviewing a copy of the footage captured by the mall's closed circuit television cameras to cross-match the images with the profiles of suspects in previous robbery incidents in Cebu City and in Bogo City.

According to the initial reports, there were more than eight persons who robbed the jewelry shop inside Super Metro, but the police have yet to identify them.

Gairanod said the robbers, who were reported to be armed with .45 pistols, first disarmed the guard assigned at the main entrance to the mall ordered him to lie down.  Gairanod said they are now gathering more pieces of evidence and testimonies from witnesses. — /RHM (FREEMAN)