Bacolod mayor to grant cash rewards for info on unsolved crimes

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Albee Benitez

BACOLOD CITY — Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez will grant cash rewards for informants who can provide credible information on unsolved killings in this city.

His spokesman Caesar Distrito said the mayor agreed to the proposal of Colonel Joeresty Coronica, the new Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director, to release incentives to those who could help solve crimes.

“The mayor will just announce the amount after conferring with Col. Coronica,” Distrito said in a July 27 interview.

Distrito did not specify when Benitez and Coronica would meet but said it would happen “soon.”

Coronica said he proposed that rewards be given for information, especially on unsolved crimes in Bacolod.

The reward, he said, could convince witnesses to testify and awaken their social responsibility if they have witnessed a crime.

Under his watch, Coronica, who assumed his post as director of the BCPO on July 24, said the police would conduct a relentless campaign against illegal drugs, investigate recent killings, act on unsolved crimes, and go after robbers and vandals responsible for the proliferation of graffiti in Bacolod.

Also among his priorities is to determine the motive of a Chinese-looking businesswoman in collecting information from government-issued identification cards and driver’s licenses of Bacolod residents for a fee.

“We want to know what the information is used for,” Coronica said.

He said they had not discounted the possibility that a syndicate was behind such operations.

Coronica said many crimes are committed online, pointing out that when he was Iloilo City police director, 17 Chinese nationals were arrested for running a cybersex hub.

He said any reshuffling of police officers in the city would be done after he conducts an assessment so the right person could be placed in the right position.

“Bacolod needs more policemen as it only has one cop for every 600 residents which ideally should be one to 500,” he said.