Bacolod police nab suspects in doctor robbery

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — Police arrested two motorcycle-riding suspects over the weekend, two days after they allegedly robbed a female doctor in this city on Thursday.

The Bacolod City Police Office identified the first suspect as alias Rem, 37, of Barangay 40.

Rem was arrested at 9 p.m. Saturday at the barangay hall.

Police arrested the second suspect, identified as alias Shan, 32, of Barangay Cabug, at 1:20 a.m. Sunday in a joint operation conducted by Police Station 1 and the City Intelligence Unit.

Recovered from Shan were a motorcycle and the two stolen cellphones.

Police Maj. Rondyl Tapang, head of Police Station 1, said the suspects were positively identified by the victim and arrested through intelligence-driven operations.

Tapang said Shan had a robbery case in Iloilo City, while police are verifying whether Rem was involved in illegal drugs.

Tapang said the suspects may also be involved in other robbery incidents in the city that were not officially reported to police.

He said the suspects appeared to have targeted the doctor by chance.

Police will file a complaint for robbery with violence and intimidation against the two suspects on Monday, June 1.

Mayor Greg Gasataya and the BCPO earlier offered a PHP 200,000 cash reward to help authorities identify and locate the suspects after closed-circuit television footage of the robbery went viral on social media.

The video showed the victim trying to resist the suspects, who allegedly took her bag at gunpoint as she was about to enter the gate of her boarding house in Barangay 19.

The doctor, who was injured, had just come home from a 24-hour duty shift and lost the cellphone she used for work.

Tapang said the firearm seen in the CCTV footage may have been a pellet gun.

While acknowledging public concern over the incident, Police Col. Eugene Rebadomia, BCPO director, said police have arrested perpetrators in similar cases, but some victims refused to press charges, possibly out of fear.

Rebadomia said the incident had reached the national headquarters, which expressed alarm over the case.

In a press briefing Saturday, Rebadomia said BCPO records showed that only 20 robbery incidents had been reported since January, with 17 cases solved and only one still under further investigation.

The BCPO assured the public of its continued commitment to swift police response, intensified follow-up operations, and the immediate resolution of criminal cases in the highly urbanized city.

Gasataya said the city government remains fully supportive of BCPO efforts to ensure that justice is served and communities remain safe.

To further strengthen the city’s peace and order campaign, Gasataya and Rebadomia urged residents to immediately report emergencies and criminal incidents through the emergency hotline system.

They emphasized the importance of timely reporting in solving crimes.

Gasataya said the city is awaiting final clearance for the localized implementation of the Unified 911 Emergency Response System.

The system is part of Philippine National Police efforts to strengthen emergency response capabilities across the Negros Island Region.

Gasataya said the city has completed the necessary preparations, including personnel training, communications equipment, information technology requirements, software installation, and the establishment of an operations center.

“What we are waiting for is the certification to go live and the final instruction from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG),” he said.