THE Bacolod City Council approved a resolution requesting the joint elements of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and all other law enforcement agencies in the city to conduct an investigation for an early resolution of the crime committed in the slaying of Zara Alvarez at Eroreco Subdivision, Barangay Mandalagan last August 17, 2020.
The resolution, authored by Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr., was approved during the regular session of the City Council Wednesday.
Gamboa said Alvarez, 39, of Cadiz City, a member of human rights group Karapatan-Negros and advocacy officer of the Negros Island Health Integrated Program (NIHIP), was on her way to her boarding house when an unidentified assailant fired at her around 7:30 p.m.
He said the Sangguniang Panlungsod has been calling appropriate law enforcement agencies to resolve at the earliest possible time several high crimes committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the City of Bacolod, which includes the slaying of businessmen Alex Yao, Roland Tan, Kaishek Tan, Punong Barangay Nelson Ligaya and Maui Huelar, lawyer Rafael Atutubo, Police Officer Oscar Exaltado, Jail Officer Jayvee Vargas and attempted murder of Councilor Ricardo Tan, among others.
"These senseless and ruthless acts have horrified and created fear, anxiety and apprehensions among the people of Bacolod," he said.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico, spokesperson of BCPO, earlier said that Colonel Henry Binas, director of BCPO, already ordered the Investigation and Detection Management Unit (IDMU) to evaluate if the killing of Alvarez will qualify for the creation of SITG.
The police are looking into personal grudge or work-related motives in the killing of Alvarez.
Pico said Police Station 3 is facing difficulty in identifying the perpetrators since the area has no security cameras.
He said the two companions of the victim, one of them a minor, also failed to identify the gunman because it was raining and the area was too dark.
