Romana feels the heat of rising criminality in Cebu City

A female gunshot victim in a private Cebu City hospital had an unexpected visitor yesterday.

Senior Supt. Noli Romana, city police chief, entered, bringing a book of photos.
Could she identify the three hoodlums who shot her?

The woman pointed to three men in the “rogue’s gallery” or album of known police characters as the ones who surrounded her Cheverolet SUV Sunday night in barangay Busay before one of them shot her in the chest and the group drove off with the vehicle.

Romana was sent to the hospital by Cebu City Michael Rama to take direct action on the robbery-shooting, one of the latest in a rising seres of crimes that has added pressure on the police chief to perform.

At least four other holdups and street crimes were reported on Sunday in the city.
The victim, businesswoman Eleanor Rivera, owns the Healing Present organic and wellness farm in Balamban town, and is a friend of the mayor.

Outside the hospital door, a uniformed policeman stood guard because the mayor “promised I would be safe,” said Rivera.

“But how about other people who travel this road in barangay Busay but don’t know the mayor?” she asked Cebu Daily News.

Rivera said she asked the visiting police chief why there were no more police checkpoints along the route, which is dimly lit.

She said these checkpoints, which she used to encounter on her drive to and from Balamban, made her feel safe on the road.

“I told Mayor Mike long ago the city also lacks street lights, especially that area. Now see what happened.”

She said hopefully something will finally be done to change the situation.

Rivera said she parked the SUV near Ayala Heights subdivision in barangay Busay, a spot where she sometimes pulls over to rest after a long drive from Balamban town, before proceeding to the city where she resides. She had a female therapist with her . It was about 10 p.m.

The holduppers, who arrived on a motorbike, circled her car.

Rivera was shot in the chest as she sat in the driver’s side. The two women were pulled out of the vehicle, and the holduppers drove off with the SUV with her bag, cellphone, and laptop inside.

Her ordeal didn’t end there. Rivera, a registered nurse, held her bleeding torso, as she pleaded for help with the security guard at the guardpost of the Ayala property.

“At first, he didn’t want to deal with me. Then he didn’t have a phone to contact paramedics or the police,” she said in disbelief.

A passing car finally gave Rivera a lift to the hospital in the city. She was operated on past 2 a.m. to remove a bullet that had torn part of her liver.

UNDER INVESTIGATION

Several police units have been tasked to investigate the robbery-shooting.

Since the suspects are in the police “rogue’s gallery”, the chances of tracking them down are better than other cases of random violence.

Senior Supt. Romana is under pressure not just in solving the attempted murder of the businesswoman but to address police statistics that show crime volume in Cebu city increased by 11.5 percent in the first quarter of the year.

Before leaving the country, Mayor Rama had warned the Cebu City Police Office leadership to “shape up or ship out”.

Barely a year ago, Romana caused a stir in the national police after Mayor Rama insisted to Camp Crame officials that Romana was his choice as the next chief of police of Cebu City, despite a lukewarm response from the regional police office.

Before Sunday’s shooting, Romana was alerady in the hot seat after the regional police office released the year’s first quarterly crime statistics.

Romana is leaving no stone unturned to prove that the mayor did the right thing when he insisted he be put at the helm of Camp Cabahug.

Before relinquishing his post as regional police chief , Chief Supt. Danilo Constantino, earlier this month said he wanted immediate action taken against the increasing crime incidents in Cebu City.
Constantino ordered an crime assessment in every city and town in Central Visayas.

Romana was not around in yesterday’s police briefing for the media where the top brass of the Police Regional Office presented a plan on how they intend to stem criminality in Central Visayas.

Senior Supt. Erson Digal, chief of the Regional Operations and Plans Division, said they are ready for the opening of classes on June 2. The entire police force will be on heightened alert.

He said all police chiefs were instructed to deploy all warm bodies to ensure the safety of students, teachers and the general public.

Digal said that in Cebu City, 200 policemen would be sent to augment the regular force.

Undercover policemen will patrol the streets with the regular mobile and foot patrols.

He said they will particularly watch over the Capitol area where pickpocketing incidents were prevalent.

Senior Supt. Orlando Ualat, acting regional police director, said they will implement a Comprehensive Deployment System (CDS) in Metro Cebu.

More policemen would be assigned in crime prone areas.

He said they will use the school opening period as a test-run for the CDS which was designed as part of the security plan when Cebu plays host to the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference next year.

“It will be done twice a week in a particular time and date as for also a test run for security purposes of the Apec,”Ualat said. / with UP Cebu intern Gerianne Faith B. Rizon