City generally peaceful, says ICPO chief
Iloilo City remains to be generally peaceful even with the occurrence of four significant crime incidents involving high profile personalities last month. The police has already filed cases against the suspects in three of the four crimes.
Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) director Sr. Supt. Bartolome Tobias in a report presented before the members of the City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) said they already solved three of the four sensational cases which happened last August among them the killing of Adelina Bermejo Palma, aunt of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, and the assassination of Iloilo Provincial Fire Marshal Supt. Casiano del Castillo.
The two other cases which put to test the capacity of the police in their crime solution efficiency were the shooting of Eddie Pedrajas and stabbing of American national Daniel John Chabra Jr. of Los Angeles, California last August 31, 2008. Chabra succumbed to 12 fatal stab wounds that caused his death.
Tobias said the Jaro police precinct was able to file complaints against the assailant of Bermejo and of the suspects in the shooting of Pedrajas. Pedrajas was shot dead last August 17, 2008 at Barangay Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, Jaro.
The Arevalo police precinct has also filed charges against the suspects in the shooting to death of Supt. Del Castillo. Del Castillo was shot dead while on his way home at Phase 2, Landheights Subdivision, Barangay Quezon, Arevalo last August 22, 2008.
Tobias said the probe on the death of Chabra is still ongoing pending the result of the serology test on the samples of blood taken from the short pants of one of the male friends of the American national who visited the foreigner's residence before he was found dead.
Police considered the three cases solved after complaints have been filed against the suspects. In the same presentation, Tobias said they were able to solve 188 of the 340 cases recorded by the police. There are still 152 cases which remained unsolved last month.