By Charmaine Batong and Anna Yamagata – UC PRO-COR Interns
Camp Bado Dangwa, La Trinidad, Benguet – The Police Regional Office Cordillera uprooted more than 3,000 fully grown marijuana plants during various eradication operations as it stepped up its anti-illegal drugs campaign in the region.
Meanwhile, police arrested three persons in Benguet and Abra provinces as it intensifies its anti-crime operations in these jurisdictions in anticipation of the influx of visitors to the city of Baguio during the Panagbenga Festival.
“PRO-Cordillera would like to assure the residents of Baguio and its environs including the more than a million visitors we are expecting during the Panagbenga Festival, that they are safe and secure during their visit to the region,” said Police Chief Superintendent Isagani R Nerez, PRO-Cordillera Regional Director.
Operating personnel from the Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Operation Task Group (PAIDSOTG), Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch (PIDMB), PIB, Kapangan MPS and La Trinidad MPS uprooted 3170 fully grown marijuana plants at Sitio Toplac, Pudong, Kapangan, Benguet on February 25, 2015 valued at Php634, 000.00 by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
In the Municipality of Tuba, joint operatives of RID PRO-COR and Tuba MPS arrested Franklin Tomas Saingan, 18 years old of Tuba, Benguet, as he was collecting jueteng bets in the area of Camp 3, in Tuba.
The police were able to recover from the suspect Php819.00 in different denominations, one blue ball pen, four (4) leaflets with marking “Vista Gaming Corporation” with listed jueteng bets, and one (1) brown envelop with jueteng bet results. He was brought to the Tuba MPS for documentation and for inquest proceeding.
On the same day, personnel of the Buguias Municipal Police Station recovered an abandoned motorcycle parked along Buguias-Kabayan-Bokod Road, particularly in a private road at Lower Abatan, Buguias, Benguet. The said motorcycle is an orange Euro Motorcycle without plate number, with engine No. 162FMJ1446049 and chassis No. LP7PCKL25D 2002RB.
Buguias MPS personnel made some verification at the Euro Motorcycle Company Buguias Office, which established that the motorcycle was owned by one Federico Pitas Lauro of AD 24-A Buyagan, La Trinidad, Benguet.
Mr. Lauro told police that the said motorcycle was stolen while it was parked at the garage of their boarding house in La Trinidad on January 20, 2015. Police turned over the motorcycle to Lauro after he was able to establish ownership through proper documents.
Moreover, personnel of the Bokod Municipal Police Station intercepted on February 25, 2015, a Public Utility Jeepney with license plate AYC 199 driven by Noel Landisan Manuel loaded with 168 sacks of pine cones while patrolling along Sitio Yapas, Bobok-Bisal, Bokod, Benguet. The driver and the PUJ with its load were brought to Bokod MPS for further investigation.
Meanwhile in the province of Abra, Wilfredo Isiguen Pescozo of Barangay Tuquib, Villaviciosa, Abra, turned in one (1) Caliber .22 Rifle (Winchester) bearing serial number 12824 without ammunition to the personnel of Villaviciosa Municipal Police Station on the afternoon of February 25, 2015.
Said firearm was registered under the name of his father, Herminigildo P. Pescozo (Deceased) and the registration expired on December 30, 1981.
The firearm is now under the custody of Villaviciosa MPS for documentation prior its turn-over to Firearms Explosives Security Agency and Guards Supervision Section (FESAGS) to the Abra PPO for proper disposition.
These continuing series of police accomplishments is indeed a great start to having the entire Cordillera as model for peace and order not only for Luzon but the entire Philippines.