No major crimes in Yolanda-affected areas

There were no major crime incidents recorded in Tacloban City and other affected areas in Eastern Visayas more than a month after super typhoon Yolanda wrought havoc to the region, according to the top police official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) here.

Police Chief Supt. Henry Losañes, acting regional director of Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) during Wednesday’s coordination meeting at the Leyte Sports Academy command center said that since November 8, his office has not received any report of major crimes in Tacloban City and other towns affected by the typhoon in Leyte, Samar and Eastern Samar provinces.

“The peace and order situation in the region after the onslaught of the typhoon is generally peaceful although minor occurrence of crimes such as theft is being reported,” Losañes said.

He attributed this to the deployment of policemen in strategic areas and the curfew hours that is being implemented by the police from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.

“Notwithstanding the personal tragedy and loss of property suffered by our men, they continue to perform their normal police functions and the augmentation personnel from other regions are a big help,” he said.

The PNP had sent more than 1,200 personnel that augmented the PRO8 manpower drawn from the PNP’s Special Action Force (SAF) and various regional offices which provided security and police assistances.

The police official also acknowledged the role of “force multipliers” in supporting the police in the affected localities.“Barangay tanods are already supporting police officers in patrolling their villages and reporting incident of crimes,” the regional police chief added.