Cops vow to fight wave of theft, robbery

BY RALPH JOHN MIJARES ROXAS City — Police here vowed to step up the fight against robbery and theft amid the recent wave of such cases in this city. Most recent of these cases were the separate theft cases that victimized a policeman and an Aklanon delegate to a regional sports event, and the robbery of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), and drugstores Mercury Drug and Super K. The police were doing their best to arrest the culprits and prevent similar crimes, said Supt. Orlando Colisao, the city police officer-in-charge. In fact, they have arrested one of the three men who allegedly robbed the Mercury Drug on Saturday. Police recovered from the house of Rafael Abaracoso, 25, in Brgy. Punta Tabuc here several items that a Mercury Drug representative said belonged to them. Among the items were a laptop with a remote receiver, a portable diskette drive, a battery charger, a digital camera and a computer. The drug store also lost to the robbers P100,000 worth of grocery items but was unable to recover them. Abaracoso denied his involvement in the crime. Colisao said investigations on other related cases are ongoing. On Tuesday, 43-year-old Verma Tropa, an Aklanon teacher and delegate to the Western Visayas Regional Athletics Association Meet here, lost several valuables to a thief. Taken from Tropa were her mobile phone; her wallet containing P3,000 cash, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) ID, Metrobank MasterCard, Land Bank ATM card, Voter’s ID and Government Service Insurance System e-card; and other important documents. Tropa said she was buying souvenir T-shirts when she noticed that her bag was open. Upon checking, she discovered that her bag’s contents were lost. At about the same time, PO1 Jefferson Deguia from Iloilo lost his wallet containing P1,600 cash; TIN and PhilHealth cards; PRC claim slip; and other important documents. He placed his wallet in the compartment of his motorcycle, which was parked outside the Villareal Stadium. The city police head also said they will intensify patrol operations, employ more “assets,” and deploy more plainclothes policemen. Meanwhile, Colisao said he noticed “similarities” in the modus operandi of DTI and PCA robberies. He said the suspects took only cash and left behind other valuables like computers and cameras, which can be easily traced.