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Ormoc upbeat to keep safest city tag

By Sarwell Meniano

September 24, 2019, 3:51 pm

<p><strong>BEST CITY COPS.</strong> Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez congratulates the Ormoc City Mobile Force Company led by Lt. Col. Demosthenes Magnaan, for the award as Best City Mobile Force Company in Eastern Visayas region. Gomez said on Tuesday (September 24, 2019) they have been providing financial support to the city police to ensure the city’s drug-free status and attract more tourists and investments.<em> (Photo courtesy of Ormoc City government)</em></p>

BEST CITY COPS. Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez congratulates the Ormoc City Mobile Force Company led by Lt. Col. Demosthenes Magnaan, for the award as Best City Mobile Force Company in Eastern Visayas region. Gomez said on Tuesday (September 24, 2019) they have been providing financial support to the city police to ensure the city’s drug-free status and attract more tourists and investments. (Photo courtesy of Ormoc City government)

ORMOC CITY -- The city government here is optimistic of maintaining its status as the safest city in the country with its full support to the local police force.

Mayor Richard Gomez said on Tuesday they have been providing financial support to the city police for them to work hard to ensure the city’s drug-free status and attract more tourists and investments.

“We are doing our best to keep Ormoc as the safest city in the country and eliminate drugs in our city. If people see that we are committed and we doing the right thing, they would always cooperate,” Gomez told reporters.

The Philippine National Police Crime Research and Analysis Center named Ormoc as the safest city in the country based on research conducted for the first quarter of 2018.

Unlike other towns, policemen in Ormoc City have been enjoying full support from the local government from fuel to supplies, Gongona said.

“The problem of police stations in other towns is the lack of financial support. Here in Ormoc, our problem is how to spend and liquidate all financial aid extended to us by the mayor,” Gongona said.

Meanwhile, the city government here presented on Friday four persons in the most wanted list charged with raping minors, three of which involved family members.

Police nabbed the four suspects in Quezon City, Cavite, Laguna, and Taguig City.

“We have to support the PNP to arrest those persons with standing warrant even if it’s very costly. We are duty-bound to assist the court in arresting wanted persons,” Gomez said.

Arrested were Leonilo Talatayod, 52; Juanito Yahot, 40; Magno Laroya, 68; and Crisanto Ruta, 38. The Regional Trial Court branches in Ormoc City issued their warrant of arrests on various dates between 2015 to 2018. No bail has been recommended for their temporary liberty.

Talatayod was charged with 24 counts of rape committed in 2015. His victim was his eight-year-old step-daughter. The Ormoc police nabbed the city’s no. 2 most wanted person at a construction site in Diliman, Quezon City.

Yahot, the city’s no. 7 most wanted person, has been facing criminal case after raping his nine-year-old stepdaughter in 2014. The police caught him at a relative’s house in Indang, Cavite.

The city’s no. 8 most wanted person is Laroya, who was nabbed in San Pedro, Laguna. The 68-year-old was charged with lasciviousness against his six-year-old granddaughter in 2017.

Ruta has been on the wanted list since last year after raping his co-worker’s daughter, a 13-year-old girl. He went on hiding in Taguig City.

The arresting team, who launched a week-long search, is composed of five policemen from the Ormoc City Mobile Force Company headed by Lt. Col. Demosthenes Magnaan.

“These suspects committed the worst kind of rape - sexually assaulting a minor who is a family member. This is to send a message to criminals that the police will use all our resources to arrest them,” Gongona said.

The suspects, the city police chief said, did not hide in secluded areas in Luzon as if they are confident that no one could recognize them. (PNA)


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