BAGUIO CITY – Lawless elements have become broader this time casting doubts on the capability of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) to sustain its peace and order initiatives amidst repeated promises from top police officials that something is being done to go after criminals.
Even enforcers of the City Mayor’s Office Public Order and Safety Division (POSD) are not spared from the unscrupulous activities of lawless elements following the recent stabbing of an enforcer in front of a bakery along the busy Magsaysay Avenue around noon Tuesday.
Francisco Galletes, a POSD personnel and a member of the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) who now lives in Camp 7 here, is now in stable condition at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) after sustaining a lone gunshot wound on his back during the said stabbing incident.
Witnesses told probers that Galletes was doing his anti-peddling job when he was approached by a lone male individual, stabbed him on his back and then immediately fled towards the busy portion of Upper Magsaysay Avenue.
Further, two other male individuals who served as supposed lookout followed the suspect and they disappeared in the crowd although witnesses were able to provide some descriptions of the suspect to the police for further verification.
Policarpio Cambod, POSD chief, strongly condemned the stabbing of one of his trusted enforcers, saying that the incident will not deter the implementation of massive anti-peddling operations but instead contribute in empowering them to go hard against violators of the city’s anti-peddling policy.
Probers are now tracking down the suspect and his cohorts so that they will be made to answer for the crime they committed and that they deserve to face the consequences of their actions.
By Dexter A. See
