MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/04 September) – The provincial government is considering the payment of a cash reward of from P10,000 to P20,000 each to parties who can report about the whereabouts of criminals in Bukidnon, Gov. Alex P. Calingasan said.
Calingasan told MindaNews he will source it from the provincial peace and order funds and will start it this month.
The governor said this will be a strategy to counter the growing criminality in the province.
He said this is what he told Police S/Supt. Nerio Bermudo, the provincial police chief, when he attended the governor’s monthly meeting with the Bukidnon municipal mayors in Cagayan de Oro Friday.
The reward system, initiated by the provincial government, will be used for the first time in Bukidnon, he said.
He said he asked Bermudo to revive the massive checkpoints around the province, which was attributed to the conduct of peaceful elections in Bukidnon in the May 2010 national and local elections.
He said the two measures are among the things that will be taken as he ordered the police to intensify measures to bring down the crime rate.
Calingasan met with the mayors over the growing peace and order concern in Bukidnon and its efforts to counter dengue, as Northern Mindanao’s hotspot for the ailment.
The clamor to curb criminality came despite Bermudo’s report in July that Bukidnon’s crime rate from January to June 2010 decreased by 54 percent compared to the same period last year.
Bermudo said 4,245 incidents were reported in the first half of 2009 but only 1,951 in the same period this year.
Index crimes went down from 2,444 to 1,611 cases or a decrease of 823 cases. Non-index crimes dropped from 1,801 to 340 cases, he added.
But Bermudo also reported that their crime solution efficiency was also cut by what for him was an insignificant figure, from 20.37 percent in 2009 to 19.32 percent in the same period in 2010.
He said most of the reported crimes occurred in Malaybalay City (665), Valencia City (441), Manolo Fortich (83), and Pangantucan (83).
Bermudo added that Bukidnon’s top three crimes from January to June 2010 were theft, physical injury, and robbery.
There were 564 cases of theft, 451 cases of physical injury and 322 cases of robbery.
Bermudo attributed theft and robbery incidents to hunger and poverty.
The rest of the top index crimes are: 87 cases of murder, 76 cases of cattle rustling and 70 cases of theft of vehicles.
Just this week, the body of a female was found with 18 stab stab wounds in downtown Malaybalay City..
Homicide and rape comprised 1.64 percent and 1.12 percent of the index crimes, respectively.
Meanwhile, malicious mischief, illegal possession of firearms, and assault topped the list of non-index crimes.
Bermudo said that of the 70 incidents of theft of vehicles, 48 involved motorcycles.
But the report was eclipsed by recent increasing number of motorcycle thefts, among others, prompting the re-issuance of an order to enforce the no plate- no travel policy in the province. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)
