Despite the killings, Mayor Garcia says Cebu City remains safe to live in

Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia attended a press conference at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) on Thursday, November 21. | CDN Photo/ Emmariel Ares

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Following the recent case of a 22-year-old woman who was killed while commuting to work, Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia gave the assurance that Cebu City is still a safe place to live in. 

“Well, Cebu City remains to be very safe,” said Garcia during a press conference at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) where authorities gave updates on the case of Neca Denise Lagria.

Lagria, a restaurant employee, was found dead near the seawall of the South Road Properties on early Tuesday morning, November 19.

Her identity was seen as a mystery for a short while until her relatives positively identified her on Wednesday, November 20.

Her alleged killer, Godufredo Quiloan Bropal, was arrested at his house in San Remigio only a few hours later.

READ: Suspect behind death of woman found at SRP seawall nabbed

Bropal admitted to killing Lagria, whom he described as a pretty woman, for biting his tongue when he forcefully kissed her inside the jeepney that was owned by his nephew.

After strangling her to death, he dumped the victim’s body and went back to his hometown.

As of this writing, Bopral remained in police custody pending the filing of appropriate charges against him.

While the incident caused some residents to feel alarmed, the mayor assured that the city remains to be very safe.

“Of course, naa man gyud nay mga bad elements. Dili man na kalikayan but mao na ilang giingon nga a few rotten eggs will affect the image of the city. Pero I hope nga dili ingon ana kay ang atong kapulisan they have been doing what they should be doing under my instructions. And kaning ingon ani nga mga isolated cases, ang importante ani nga maresolba gyud. Ug naresolba naman gyud ang kaso,” said Garcia.

Police Colonel Antonietto Cañete, city director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), added that Lagria’s death was an isolated case.

He supported Garcia’s statement that Cebu City remains to be a safe city and disclosed that most crimes here are related to illegal drugs and targeted towards individuals connected to it.

Because Lagria’s case was declared officially solved in only 48 hours, Garcia commended the efforts of Mambaling police.   

To prevent incidents like this from happening again, he also reminded Cañete of his instructions to enhance police visibility on the streets as a deterrent to criminal activities.

With the Christmas season fast approaching, Garcia instructed law enforcers to remain vigilant at all times.

“Especially in the coming days nga we expect more people to come out this festive season leading to the Sinulog, kinihanglan even more vigilant and more careful and more strict in our implementation sa katong ako gipangingon ninyo nga more police visbility and more checkpoints,” said Garcia. /clorenciana