Iligan Citizens Crime Watch formed
by Christine F. Godinez-Ortega, OPI
The Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Citizens decided to call themselves “Iligan Citizens Crime Watch” in a meeting yesterday, July 8, 2015 at the Institute Boardroom.
Participants during this meeting were representatives from MSU-IIT’s Office of the Chancellor (OC), Office of Publication and Information (OPI), Faculty Union (FU), the Academic Non-teaching Employees Union (ANTEU), Security and Investigation Division (SID), Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM), the Student Government KASAMA, and, from the general community, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and the Iligan Bay Chamber of Industries (IBCI).
Conveners Eduardito C. Maruhom, the Institute’s Protocol & Industry Relations Officer and Dr. Christine Godinez Ortega, Acting Director of the Office of Publication & Information (OPI) discussed with the participants what the findings and recommendations of four groups organized during the first meeting: the CCTV, Light, Street Names and Signs Committee; the Hotel/Inns/Lodging Houses Committee; the Peace Negotiations Committee; and, the Information Drive Committee.
The Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Citizens renamed Iligan Citizens Crime Watch (ICCW) first met on June 30, 2015 to be updated on the peace and order situation in Iligan City from representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Philippine Army’s 2nd Mechanized Brigade and the National Bureau of Investigation.
It has been noted by the Ad Hoc Group that among other problems, structures of check points are poorly built, there are more unlighted areas in the city, the city has obsolete CCTV equipment, street names and signs are absent in many city streets, there is a lack of a monitoring system of drinking places, the tolerance of drive inns, and the frequent changes of the Police City Director.
In this second meeting, the ICCW vowed to pursue its goals of keeping Iligan safe once more for all its citizens especially students, some of whom have been victims of kidnappings and rape gangs, hold up and snatching gangs, murder, and other crimes within the city and in areas closely located in MSU-IIT.
The group that conducted the inspection of CCTV equipment, Lights and Street Names and Signs headed by Dr. Metodia Trinidad of the College of Engineering and a FU member said that Iligan City needs experts to man ‘state of the art’ technology to be put up around the city for the prevention and solution of crimes.
Trinidad reported that “the city’s surveillance system is obsolete” and suggested that the group ANTEU could benchmark in Davao City for CCTV equipment.
Another member Monawira Ali, ANTEU President reported that if the streets have no names or signs, lights installed from barangays Tubod to Suarez are located along one side only and the newly-installed posts, about 30 meters apart, have no lights therefore areas along these posts are dark at night.
The second group that evaluated the inns headed by Atty. Felicidad Gadiano of the College of Arts & Social Sciences reported that the city has six inns, and about three are drive inns. In one of these inns, City Best, a young student after being raped, was recently rescued from two rapist/kidnappers by a combined PNP, PA and NBI team. The other drive inns are, Park Suite (formerly Lovingly), Chelina, and City Best Pension.
The Institute’s Peace and Development for Mindanao (IPDM) that is active in peace negotiations promised to do its part to help improve
The Institute’s Peace and Development for Mindanao (IPDM) that is active in peace negotiations promised to do its part to help improve the peace and order situation in Iligan and the neighboring towns and the province of Lanao del Sur where the rampant production and use of drugs are allegedly left unchecked.
Finally, the Institute’s Information Drive Committee have begun to disseminate Anti-kidnapping tips and published telephone numbers for students to put on ‘speed dial’ in their cell phones, or to memorize the numbers in case of emergencies.
An Iligan Citizens Crime Watch has been opened on Facebook for the dissemination of information about this recently-formed group of concerned citizens against crime.
The ICCW will put into action the recommendations of all the groups. Maruhom likewise called on all sectors of Iligan to lend a hand in helping clean up Iligan.
Topics : Crime Watch