Pangasinan cattle rustlers emboldened as barangay officials lose shotguns

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines  – Before, lawless elements would kidnap wealthy individuals and demand ransom for their release. Now, some groups in this province have shifted to another modus operandi – steal cattle and ask the owners to pay sums of money for the return of their animals.

Superintendent Romeo Caramat, intelligence chief of the provincial police, cited a case in Alcala town where a cattle owner got a P20,000 “ransom” demand for the return of his livestock.

The money was to be delivered in San Carlos City, but the cattle owner sought the help of the Special Operations Group of the provincial police, which promptly acted and arrested the “kidnapper.”

Caramat said he has received reports of similar cases, which did not prosper though because the victims decided not to file complaints thinking that the modus operandi might just be a joke.

The ransom demand, he said, usually depends on the size of the cattle stolen.

No less than San Carlos City Mayor Julier Resuello has expressed alarm over these “cattle-for-ransom” cases, which he said have grown by 30 percent since the nationwide gun ban was enforced last Jan. 9.

In a media forum this week, Resuello said barangay officials, who earlier got shotguns from the police in a project financed by the provincial government but which had been recalled because of the gun ban, now feel defenseless amid these cases.

Resuello said cattle rustlers have become bolder, even stealing goats, since the shotguns were recalled.

He said he has written Gov. Amado Espino Jr. about the predicament that he and his fellow mayors are now facing in addressing this new modus operandi.

Superintendent Wilson Lopez, operations chief of the provincial police, admitted that indeed there has been a rise in cattle thefts – and motorcycle thefts, too – partly due to the recall of the shotguns issued to barangay officials.

Lopez said criminal elements have been emboldened since the gun ban took effect because barangay officials are no longer armed.

He said the barangay heads have requested for exemption from the ban but this remains pending.

Lopez, however, said the prevailing economic conditions might have also contributed to the growing theft cases.

Lopez called on the public to remain vigilant, saying that crime prevention is everybody’s concern.