Public urged to be vigilant on holdup incidents

MAYOR Mauricio Domogan urged residents and visitors to be vigilant against suspicious-looking individuals in their neighborhood and their barangays to deter the commission of crimes in the city.

The local chief executive issued the statement to remind the public of their individual obligations of being a responsible citizen following the brutal murder of two taxi drivers along Asin road and Badioan, Poblacion, Tuba, Benguet two weeks ago.

Domogan ordered the officers and members of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) to exert all the appropriate legal remedies within their authority to identify the perpetrators of the two murder incidents that tainted the peace and order situation of the city.

“We are grateful to the close working relationship of our policemen with those in our neighboring towns of Benguet to resolve the two brutal murder incidents which have raised concern among residents and visit or alike,” Domogan stressed.

It can be recalled that Angel Sarmiento, a taxi driver a resident of Pines Park, Balili, La Trinidad, Benguet was robbed and stabbed dead by two still unidentified assailants along Mulberry alley, Asin road, Baguio City Friday dawn while Roberto Albino, 47, married and a resident of Asin road, Baguio City was found dead inside his taxi at Badioan, Poblacion, Tuba, Benguet but his collection and personal belongings were intact.

Domogan called on possible witnesses to the two incidents to provide the necessary information to the police authorities for the immediate identification of the perpetrators and for the filing of the appropriate charges against them to help in allying the fears of taxi drivers and residents on the alleged resurgence of robbery holdup incidents that pose a threat to the safety of motorists among others.

According to the mayor, barangay officials and the members of the barangay peacekeeping action teams should start revisiting the implementation of their peacekeeping strategies to effectively and efficiently help in curbing the proliferation of crimes in their areas of jurisdiction without sacrificing their efforts to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs which is one of the major programs of the present administration.

Domogan also encouraged residents to actively take part in crime prevention efforts by providing the police operatives with vital information regarding the presence of suspicious-looking individuals or new faces in their neighborhood which will be subject to evaluation and validation to deter the occurrence of untoward incidents that will affect the implementation of peacekeeping initiatives.

The mayor claimed the existence of peace in the barangays and the city as a whole is actually the job of every citizen, thus, people need to be cooperative

by providing whatever necessary information to concerned authorities to effect the neutralization of lawless elements that live in the different barangays in the city to achieve the overall goal of lasting peace for the benefit of the greater majority of the populace. Dexter See/Baguio City PIO