By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) is stepping up its efforts in hunting down criminal groups in the province.
Police Colonel Romy Palgue, Nocppo director, said that they are conducting intensive manhunt operation against the members of six identified criminal groups in the province, following the arrest of the alleged leader and some members of the notorious Epogon robbery group in Cauayan town and Silay City last month and early this month.
The group was being linked to some robbery incidents in the town and in the neighboring city of Kabankalan, as well as to the robbery and death of a Belgian national in Bacolod last month.
Palgue said that the Epogon robbery group has 20 members and the accomplishment of the police force contributed to the reduction in their number, with less than 10 members remaining.
“We are trying our best to hunt down all the criminal groups. We will not let them out of our sight,” he added. He, however, refused to divulge their names in order not to preempt the manhunt operation.
He highlighted the need for the cooperation of the citizens in the communities to also aid them in locating these criminal elements, whom he believed could take advantage of the current situation brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Sila ang nakakaalam sa mga tao sa kanilang lugar o barangay,” Palgue said, as he urged the public to report to the police if there is presence of suspicious groups or suspicious-looking individuals. We are doing this to ensure peace in the province, he said.
Meanwhile, he also said that they continue to implement border control checkpoint operations in the areas of Kabankalan, San Carlos, and the towns of Hinoba-an, Isabela, and La Castellana.
