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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Wednesday, December 28, 2016
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BACOLOD City – A city government task force was created to help protect businesses, particularly at the downtown area.
Task Group Bantay Negosyo will work to prevent incidents similar to the deadly robbery of a department store on Christmas Day from happening.
A security guard and the Chinese owner of the JDS Mindoro Enterprises Corp. were killed when an unidentified robber barged into the store and shot people in it.
The store on Locsin Street, Barangay 13 was closing when attacked. Three Chinese store workers were injured.
Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran is heading the task force, with the following businesspeople as members:
* Alfredo Barcelona and Ben Ortega of the Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry
* Roberto Montelibano and Leonito “Diotay” Lopue of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry
* Tsai Wen Ming and Kim Tan of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce
* Crispin Chua and Roger Yap of the Amity Club
Familiaran said they will make rounds in the city to check police visibility, especially at the downtown area, the commercial center.
The task group will tap force multipliers to help in its monitoring.
Police must assure the business community that such incident will not happen again, said the vice mayor.
Moreover, the task force will meet with business groups and discuss measures to protect businesspeople from not only robbery but also other threats, including snatching and vehicle theft.
In an emergency meeting on Monday, Mayor Evelio Leonardia ordered Senior Superintendent Flynn Dongbo, city police director, to swiftly act on the case.
Businessman Changle Wu and security guard Jilbert Mayang were killed in the robbery.
Injured were Wei Quang Huang, Yuan Long Huang and Zhang Xiao Dong.
Local government and business organization officials blamed poor police visibility for the crime.
Senior Police Officer 2 Celito Dullan, investigator for Police Station 1, said they were conducting an “intense” follow-up operation, with the help of the intelligence community, to identify the suspect and determine his whereabouts.
Police were looking into the possibility of an inside job.
Based on the long firearm he used, the gunman could be a former police or military officer, Dullan said, adding that he may also have accomplices.
The police officer refused to disclose further information so as not to hamper their investigation./PN
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