THE PEN SPEAKS
Danny O. Sagun

AGAINST the bold pronouncements by the police to stop criminals, in particular highway robbers, it is shuddering to note holdupmen seemingly more active now as seen in just this week alone. Three holdups in a row in three days, one per day, is surely not something to dismiss lightly as ‘isolated incidents.’

Robbers first struck Tuesday in Villasis where they carted away some P800,000, followed by the incident Wednesday in barangay Camantiles, Urdaneta City featuring motorcycle-riding men forcibly taking some P335,000 from a couple working abroad and on vacation here. Last Thursday, bike-riding men took some P1million from a Bolinao businessman while he was driving at the city proper in Alaminos just after lunch.

We could no longer count with our fingers how many robbery incidents have taken place since the last quarter of last year. Suspects do not mind where they strike, be it in the poblacion or in the highways anytime of the day.

There’s a common pattern: victims are usually bank clients who have just withdrawn money and then held up while traveling either in their private vehicles or for hire tricycles or jeepneys.

Obviously, someone has tagged them right at the bank because the robbers precisely know where the money is placed. They know which vehicle is used by the unsuspecting victim and where he is headed. They know how much money is involved. It is very possible therefore that unscrupulous bank employees are in cahoots with the criminals.

Here in Dagupan, it was agreed upon by bank managers and the police that transactions involving big amounts should be held not thru the cashiers window but in a private place, hidden from the prying eyes of robbers. We do not know if such an arrangement was put into practice.

Beat patrolmen are also posted in the business district but it appears that the criminals are making a mockery of the presence of policemen since they do not have a hard time victimizing their prey.

As Orly N often says in his morning radio program “the criminals are lording over (sic) the PNP.” What a shame when police every time claim that they are “on top of the situation,” he adds

For the past few days, the local media is again looking for Sr. Supt. Alan Purisima to get his reaction/comments on the recent incidents. But he is again missing as noted by Bombo Dagupan anchormen. We thought that from the last time on, he would be readily available for media interview anytime the media need him as he had shown for some two weeks after the provincial government advised him to be more transparent. His predecessors, when compared with him, were always available for media interviews when big incidents like robbery happens. Purisima is not.

Official statement from the police done thru the media is very much needed by the public to assure them that they are safe in their homes, in their business places, and in public places like the streets. Without any word form our law enforcers there’s bound to be public restlessness.

Of course we are not content with just their words but more importantly their actions. Some police officers we know do not really perform to the expectations of the people. When an incident happens, it is simply recorded in the blotter. Rarely is a follow-up action done as we saw ourself when our little store was forcibly opened by thieves some years back. After recording the incident, the policemen in our small town did practically nothing to solve it or even identify the suspects. The police chief at that time was so indifferent to even take note of our complaint.

Many have similar sentiment regarding our law enforcers. Can the police still reverse such negative feedback? We can only hope that the three-pronged transformation program launched lately by the PNP leadership will succeed.