Successive incidents of robbery haunt the province as crime groups remain elusive, prompting the police to launch a round-up drive to intercept suspects. 

The latest attack came last Monday where a client of Gold Coin Lending Corporation came to rob the company of P147,000 in broad daylight.

An armed man who introduced himself as Sherwin Atup attacked the company secretary, Charlyn Ocero- -a 22-year-old native of El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental who presently stays in the office building located at M.Torralba St. in Poblacion 2, this city.

Ocero personally reported the incident to Tagbilaran City Police Station where she alleged that at around 08:30 a.m. on November 28, she was inside the office and a man came to pay his dues.

She asked for his name and the man introduced himself as Sherwin Atup, a client who owes the company P50,000.

When she opened the office, the man declared hold-up, saying “Tulis Ni” (This is a hold up).

The man then pointed a handgun of unknown caliber to her and tied her hand and blindfolded her.

He then punched her stomach when she tried to shout to ask for help, and the man then locked her inside the room.

Ocero said the man took the cash inside office table drawer amounting P147,000, and two cellphones.

Prior to the incident, a witness saw another man outside the office- -believed to the lookout of the armed man who attached Ocero.

The witness later saw the man posing as lookout and the man who attacked Ocero boarding together a tricycle with two other men, one of them was later identified as a certain Jovan Colot, a native of Pagadian City in Zamboanga Del Sur who was the former collector of the said lending company.

On the same day, Tagbilaran City Chief of Police Nicomedes Olaivar Jr. declared the launch of Oplan Sita, having received information that members of a rob gang from Mindanao have entered the city.

Olaivar fielded police personnel to comb the city for any suspicious-looking persons.

Under Oplan Sita, police personnel flag down those riding motorcycles without plate numbers or with tampered plates or motorcycles with body parts taken such as mudguards and side mirrors.

Roving police personnel will also flag down suspicious riding in tandems.

Olaivar also disseminated an advisory to the public to be cautious against robbers on the loose and also help the police in monitoring the city by immediately reporting presence of suspicious individuals in their neighborhood.

The city chief of police had issued a warning earlier this month about crime syndicates from the second district, hatching big-time robberies in the capital city.

Just recently, the owners of Ubay Farm Supply had been robbed by armed men who fled on a motorcycle.

Three days after, a cop who runs his own business was shot and robbed of P50,000 by two unidentified men.

The victim, identified as SPO3 Eulojio Casilac, a police officer of the Batuan Municipal Police Station, was delivering bottles of soft drinks in Barangay Alegria, Carmen when the incident happened.

Also on November 28, Getafe Chief of Police Gereon Item led a team to arrest a person wanted for theft.

At around 4 p.m., Item, together with PO2 Michael Augusto and PO1 Ronald Ernie proceeded to barangay Tatay to serve two warrants of arrest against one Freddie Alquina Baya (or Fredie Antiquiño Baya, as his certificate of registration shows)- -one for theft and the other for robbery.

The warrant of arrest for theft dated September 7, 2007 was issued by Presiding Judge Monalila Tecson of MTCC-Branch 1 of Cebu City, setting the bail bond at P10,000.

The alias warrant of arrest for robbery dated January 30, 2015, with no bailbond recommended, was issued by Acting Presiding Judge Marivic Trabajo-Daray of RTC-Branch 52 in Talibon.

Baya, a 32-year-old resident of barangay Tatay in Getafe, was on probation on an earlier robbery conviction.

Earlier on the same day, at around 11:05 a.m., a team from Bohol Tourist Police Unit (BTPU) stationed in Panglao responded to a report about an incident of theft in barangay Tawala.

One Elmer Loreno, a 42-year-old resident of barangay Tawala, Panglao called up the police station to seek for assistance as his goat had just been stolen.

PO3 Baclay, PO2 Loberternos and PO1 Damasin proceeded to Loreno’s house and caught one of the two suspects, Sanny Pardillo, being held by Loreno.

Pardillo, a 29-year-old jobless man from Toledo City in Cebu province, had stayed at Amacan Village in Dao District, Tagbilaran City.

His conspirator in the theft had already fled with the goat they had stolen from the victim.

Loreno told the responding cops that while Pardillo and another man were about to leave on board a motorcycle, carrying his goat with them, he was able to hold Pardillo as the leash of the goat got stuck in the wheel of the motorcycle.

NEW SWAT TEAM TRAINED

Meanwhile, the 6th Special Action Force (SAF) Battalion yesterday started training an additional elite police unit, the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team in the province composed of 70 members- -52 from Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) and 18 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

According to Senior Insp. Vincent Dumapig, chief of the BPPO communications branch, the training, which started yesterday afternoon at Camp Dagohoy, will run for 45 days.

Police Provincial Director Felipe Natividad led the launching ceremony attended by Governor Edgar Chatto.

Senior Supt. Renato Dugan, PNP-7 Regional Personnel and Human Resource and Development Division chief, introduced the trainees.

The SWAT training includes mastery on the use of specialized or military equipment in law enforcement operations.

Olaivar used to head the first batch of BPPO’s SWAT team and had passed it on to Supt. Patricio Degay Jr.