THE spate of robberies stalking Naga City during the past months has put the local police authorities on the spot, prompting city hall to take a look at the law enforcers’ performance indicators to find ways to solve the worsening problem.

THE spate of robberies stalking Naga City during the past months has put the local police authorities on the spot, prompting city hall to take a look at the law enforcers’ performance indicators to find ways to solve the worsening problem.

A crime statistics released by the Naga City Police Station for the period January to February this year shows that there were 16 robbery cases and 3 theft cases reported, compared to the same period last year where there were 12 robbery and 6 thefts cases reported.

The January-February 2005 statistics show that one robbery case takes place every 90 hours, or every 3.8 days; while one case of theft occurs every 430 hours or every 20 days.

Nicasio L. Garcia, chief of the Naga PNP’s administrative branch, said that while they are being confronted with an increasing incidence of robbery and theft, the number of law enforcers in the city’s police force have not been beefed up since the late 1960s.

He explained that since 1967 during the time of the late Col. Elias Pama, then the city’s police chief, Naga had 130 policemen in the field. Today, with the city’s population almost doubling up at 140,000 or more residents, the city police force is powered by only 150 policemen, with a number of them on official leave or detailed elsewhere.

Garcia admitted that a lean police force severely affects the police’s crime prevention program, especially the drive against theft and robbery which requires strong police visibility.

He said the figure on police personnel does not even get closer to the ideal ratio of policemen against the number of civilians which is 1:500. As it stands now, the policeman to population ratio in the city is 1:1,233.

Naga’s population bloats up at daytime when office workers, market goers, churchgoers and students from nearby towns come to the city to work, shop, pray and study.

A Naga PNP data revealed that most of the apprehended suspected robbers and thieves were residents of adjoining towns such as Pili, Magarao, Bombon, Camaligan and even Metro Manila.

The same data disclosed that during the period January to February this year, the Naga PNP’s crime solution efficiency was a dismal 55% crime compared to the 73% crime solution efficiency recorded during the same months last year.

It should be noted that the city’s other index crimes such as murder, homicide, rape and physical injury had only one incidence each during the two-month period, while robbery stood out at 16 cases for the January-February 2005 period alone.

In his report to the Naga City Peace and Order Council, P/Supt. Ramon S. Ranara, chief of police, said that a number of robbery suspects had been arrested as of March this year.

Those apprehended include:
- Jhobelle M. Romobia, 19, of Del Rosario, Naga City, suspect in the Grilla Republic robbery that took place last June 29, 2004; the Ong’s residence robbery at Bgy. Del Rosario last Oct. 11, 2004; and Villa Corazon robbery on April 1, 2004 wherein the firearm of SPO1 Ruben Antonio was stolen by the same suspect.

- Ryan R. Magdasoc, 16, of Balatas, Naga City accomplices Noel Malate and Zaldy Balanlayos whose arrests resulted to the recovery of 6 stolen car stereos;

- Rafael A. Marcellana, an escapee from New Bilibid Prisons, who was nabbed last March 17 for the robbery hold-up at Sonry trading in Bgy. Abella, Naga City.

Meanwhile, Naga City Jesse M. Robredo was reported to have called upon his top advisers to study the performance indicators of the city’s barangay tanods to assist the police in the stepped-up campaign against crime.

Sources said that the city mayor wanted a close examination and religious monitoring of the number of crimes reported in police blotters which occurred within every barangay; the number of crimes solved with the help of barangay tanods; the number of night time patrols conducted per zone; and the average length of response in minutes to requests for assistance by affected residents.

These indicators, sources said, will help determine the strong and weak points that are necessary in setting specific targets to prevent and solve crime.

Liga ng mga Barangay president and ex-officio city councilor Jose Mari F. Mercado said they are considering to conduct nighttime rondas that are to be participated in by barangay officials and tanods who were clustered into 3 or 4 barangays per group.