Cebu City police chief orders tighter security

CEBU City Police Chief Colonel Enrico Figueroa has ordered the chiefs of 11 police stations in the city to heighten security following a robbery at a pharmacy in Barangay Jagobiao, Mandaue City, Cebu.

Figueroa said he has directed his station commanders to conduct an inventory of financial institutions within their areas of responsibility to ensure that proper security measures are in place in these establishments.

Part of the inspection will check whether the alarm systems are functional and whether the establishments have complete security features.

They will also investigate whether there are suspicious individuals residing near establishments such as pawnshops and banks, which could potentially be targeted.

He said most out-of-town robbers or thieves conduct surveillance and rent rooms nearby so they can easily carry out their crimes.

“So yung instruction natin sa lahat ng ating station commander, they will conduct inventory sa kanilang area of responsibility nga mga financial institution like yung LBC, pawnshop para makita natin ang kanilang security,” said Figueroa.

(So our instruction to all station commanders is to conduct an inventory of financial institutions like LBC, pawnshops, etc., in their areas of responsibility to assess their security.)

Figueroa clarified that they have not detected any new presence of out-of-town robbers in Cebu City, but they remain on high alert following the incident in Mandaue.

Should these criminals already be in the city, Figueroa warned they will be arrested before they can commit any crime.

Last month, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) held a meeting with security managers of various establishments in the city to remind them not to be complacent in enforcing security measures.

Figueroa also intensified police visibility, especially in the downtown area where many financial institutions are located and could be vulnerable to robbery and other crimes.

He tasked the CCPO mobile patrol unit to regularly roam around to deter potential crimes.

Previously, three robbers broke into a pharmacy in Barangay Jagobiao, Mandaue City and, based on the results of the investigation, took more than P100,000 from the cashier.

However, the suspects failed to open the ATM vault due to the difficulty of accessing it. (AYB)