By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

In response to social media being recently flooded with posts reporting hold-up incidents, thefts, and carnappings – along with introducing the hashtag #Bacolodisnotsafe – occurring throughout Bacolod City, Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) acting director, Police Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, denied all the chatter.

“Bacolod is safe,” he stated.

“If there is an agency which can declare a security threat, whether an area is safe or not, it is the PNP (Philippine National Police),” said Wanky.

He went on to quote recent crime statistics, pointing out, “For the first eight months of 2017, the city police recorded 460 crimes against properties; in 2016, there were 615 cases.”

The city police chief also noted, among crimes such as robbery, theft, usurpation, swindling, arson, and malicious mischief, there was a decline of 25 percent between January and August of this year as compared to last year; while homicide, murder, rape and physical injury saw a 75 percent drop during the said time frame.

Earlier, Bacolod City Councilor Caesar Distrito appealed to the public to stop tagging the city as “unsafe” on social media, saying it spreads fear and panic among city residents.

Additionally, with the city preparing for next month’s MassKara Festival, Distrito believes such posts could scare away potential visitors.

The Bacolod City Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) also passed a P478,000 budget allocation earlier this week for the city’s anti-criminality drive./DGB, WDJ