In the past few days, highway robberies hugged the headlines with some Boholanos getting victimized thereby losing their revenues to criminals.
In this connection, Gov. Erico Aristotle “Aris” Aumentado tasked Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) provincial director Col. Osmundo Salibo to crack down on the spate of highway robberies in the province.
The height of the initiative has reached the point when the governor dangled a P100,000 cash reward for information on the identities of the suspect.
The police obtained some headway in the fight against the highway robbers with the killing of one of the suspects during a recent shooting incident in barangay Napo, Alicia.
However, is it not possible that other tentacles of the crime group remain which could spell danger to Bohol’s peace and order?
With the problem on highway robberies still hanging in the balance, it seems that extortion racket could the next crime fad that will hit Bohol.
This comes as The Bohol Tribune obtained unverified information saying a businessman from a 2nd district town allegedly received extortion notice purportedly from the communist-terrorist group, the New People’s Army (NPA).
According to the information, the extortionists demand payment of a sum of money or else the businessman would be harmed or worse, assassinated.
The Bohol Tribune went on to verify the information with Col. Salibo and he said the modus operandi of the alleged extortionists is similar to alleged incidents experienced by some businessmen operating tourism establishments in the 3rd district of Bohol.
However, Salibo said that the extortion try was never consummated.
In a text message, he consulted with a chief of police in a 2nd district town and received no extortion complaint filed by businessmen.
Still, he is looking into the reports and will provide updates regarding the allegations of extortion of elements like the NPA, as he told the police to ask businessmen if there are indeed extortion attempts by unscrupulous people.
It has been public knowledge that there are some elements of the NPA who would ask for so-called “revolutionary tax”, which is plain and simple extortion to fund their organization’s operation.
Whether this report is true or not, the spate of crime incidents in Bohol spurs a lot of questions:
1. Is Bohol still safe and peaceful?
2. Is Bohol truly insurgency-free?
3. There are sightings of armed men who are not members of the police or the military in Bohol; are these indications of criminal elements or insurgents?
4. Will the spate of highway robberies get solved?
5. How true are the allegations of extortion here?
