No BIFF men hiding in Cebu, says military
THE military’s Central Command assured there are no Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Cebu.
In last week’s Provincial Peace and Order Council Maj. Gen. Nicanor Vivar, Central Command chief said there’s no truth to rumors that the BIFF was present in Cebu. “Sa palagay ko haka haka lang yan (In my opinion, they are just rumors),” he said.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, who chairs the council, asked about this after he heard about BIFF members taking refuge in some parts of Cebu. Vivar said the military has not received reports of any BIFF movement in the province.
He said they have intelligence sources scattered all over Central Visayas.
Vivar added the Muslim community in the region is peace-loving.
“Sila mismo ang ayaw na pumunta rito ang [BIFF] at gumawa ng gulo (They don’t want the BIFF to come to the region and sow conflict),” Vivar said.
Extremist
The BIFF through its spokesman Abu Misry confirmed its alliance with the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham (ISIS) along with the Abu Sayyaf.
Though Misry said they’re not pursuing the radicalism of ISIS, they will not hesitate to extend assistance.
Also discussed in last week’s council meeting was the crime volume in Cebu province which increased in the first two months of the year compared to the same period last year.
Supt. Rodolfo Albotra, chief of the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), attributed it to the rise in non-index crimes by 17 percent.
The number of non-index crimes, which comprise 49 percent of the total crime volume, increased from 1,207 in January to February 2014 to 1,408 in the same period this year.
Increased
Albotra said non-index crimes are those involving police-initiated operations like the campaign against loose firearms, illegal drugs and illegal gambling.
“If the non-index crimes increased, it means that our police operations also increased,” he told reporters in an interview yesterday.
The comparative crime volume for the first two months of 2014 and 2015 are 2,540 and 2,865, respectively, registering an increase of 13 percent.
Fifty-one percent of the total crime volume, or 1,457 cases, are comprised of index crimes which involve either crimes against persons or property.
Physical injury, at 628 cases, leads the list of the most number of cases tallied by police in the crimes against person category. It is followed by murder at 48, homicide at 43 and rape at 40.
Concerning crimes against property, theft is the highest at 421, followed by robbery at 244, car-napping at 32, and one case of cattle rustling.
From January to February, 185 operations were also conducted against illegal drugs resulting in the arrest of 244 persons, 340 cases filed and more than P4.3-million worth of drugs were confiscated.
The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) arrested and charged 60 persons for illegal possession of firearms and confiscated 108 guns.
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