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COTABATO CITY — The rash of killings in Cotabato City the past few days has forced the City Police Office to ask for augmentation force from PNP Regional Office (PRO) in Region 12.

Senior Inspector Rex Anongos, city police director, said he personally sought the help of PNP-12 Regional Director Chief Supt. Lester Camba for the deployment of 100 police officers to help secure the city from rising criminality.
Two shooting incidents involving high profile victims have occurred in the city even during broad daylight.

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“We lack police officers here,” Anongos said, citing the current police-population ratio as 1 cops is to 10,000 persons.
He said the current police force in the city is only 220, not enough to secure the city’s 37 municipalities.

Two weeks ago, Aniceto Rasalan, secretary of Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani Jr., was shot while driving a government issued vehicle along Sinsuat Avenue. The shooting occurred at 2:30 p.m. along the busy street.

Police said it already arrested two suspects and filed charges against them after Rasalan positively identified them as the ones who shot him.

On Friday last week, unidentified gunmen shot dead a former village official along Sinsuat Avenue during a heavy downpour brought about by the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone.

Anwar Lucas, former chair of Barangay Rosary Heights 10, was driving a multi-cab when two men riding tandem positioned beside him and opened fire. He died on the spot.

Before that, a series of crime against life was reported in the city, at one point happening every night.
Anongos admitted police visibility is necessary in identified crime prone areas in the city.

“The additional police force will augment the current police force assigned in the city,” Anongos added. (pna)

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