Davao Del Norte unleashes motorcycle cops vs killers on motorbikes

TAGUM CITY, Philippines—To counter motorcycle-riding gunmen, who have pulled off a string of murders and robberies in Davao del Norte, the provincial police organized a team of motorcycle-riding policemen to go after them.

The 40-man law enforcement team has undergone a 15-day crash course on motorcycle-riding and marksmanship and will be deployed to patrol the highways and urban centers of the province, according to Senior Superintendent Edgardo Wycoco, Davao del Norte police chief.

Thirty-two of the motorcycle-riding policemen will be deployed in this city, the province’s capital, said Chief Supt. Jorge Corpuz, deputy regional director for administration of the southern Mindanao police office.

“It has been observed that killings and other crimes happening now anywhere in the country are perpetrated by motorcycle-riding suspects, so this is our answer in preventing such situations,” Corpuz said during the graduation of the so-called Motorcycle-Riding Cops or MRC last Wednesday.

Corpuz said Davao del Norte has become the first province in Southern Mindanao to put up a team of motorcycle policemen.

He said the regional police office was encouraging the provinces Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley to organize similar teams.

“With this MRC unit, we want to send a strong message that the PNP is serious in its fight against criminality,” he said.

Wycoco said the Davao del Norte MRC unit already proved its worth when it arrested four suspected robbers during a test mission on June 10.

The suspects, all security guards, were identified as the gunmen who robbed a lending company in nearby Panabo City, he said.

On the eve of the group’s graduation ceremony, motorcycle-riding armed men robbed a Caltex gas station on the national highway here and fled with about P400, 000 in cash. Wycoco said the Caltex robbery was just the latest in a string of robberies here, which occur at least twice a month, and was still being investigated.

Wycoco urged local government units in the province to help the police in mobilizing the MRC, pointing out that most of its members were using their own personal motorcycles.

“We also lack additional equipment for our troops like helmets, Kevlar vests and other gear so we are appealing to our local government units (for help),” he said.