Cebu crime drops 3 percent

CEBU CITY (PNA) – Crime volume in Cebu dropped three percent since the start of the AsianPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit senior ministers meetings in Cebu last Aug. 22, Police Regional Office-Central Visayas Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas (PRO-7) said. Some 3,000 police personnel are deployed to secure delegates, the hotels where they are staying and meeting venues. Lawas said the decrease was observed in both index and non-index crimes. Index crimes are those penalized under the Revised Penal Code, while non-index crimes are those punished under special laws. Lawas said some delegates, though, have posed a security challenge. For instance, he said, some delegates went to nearby Bohol province to go on a Loboc River cruise without informing their hotel. The delegates were still trailed by police and Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 Director Rowena Montecillo said those who left Cebu to take a break after meetings were guarded without their knowing it. “We cannot stop the delegates, but our job is to make sure that nothing untoward will happen to them” she said.