Rizal Boulevard evokes different meanings, and mostly fond memories for the natives and visitors of Dumaguete City. It is the icon of the laid back, tranquil, bucolic atmosphere which makes this City of Gentle People a pleasant residence.
This is the reason why the City government should make the Rizal Blvd. one of its priority concerns when it comes to development, and more importantly, when it comes to the peace and order situation.
The news of a recent hold-up at the Rizal Blvd. should catch the priority attention of our Mayor, City Council members, and the police.
We know that Task Force SAGARR led by City Administrator William Ablong is alert and ready to take suggestions, and act on this urgent need.
The boulevard is a magnet for local and foreign tourists, one bad experience such as a hold up may blacken the image of the City as a prime tourist destination.
A decline in tourists arrivals would mean a decline in the economic activity in the area, as well as the rest of the City that depends on the influx of tourists for its businesses.
Many would argue that the peace and order situation of the City had deteriorated many years ago. It is important to recall that when Col Rey Lyndon Lawas was chief of Police of the City, there were incidents of bag-snatching and pick-pocketing in the intersection of Perdices St. and San Jose St. Then Chief of Police Lawas responded by being at that intersection himself, during critical hours.
Due to increased police visibility and community vigilance, the incidents were abated, and this continues to be addressed up to now.
There will be criminal elements who will try to engage in hold-ups, pickpocketing, and bag-snatchings, but if the City leadership and the Police work together to address the problem quickly and effectively, these incidents can be abated.
The City should channel its resources to projects and programs to improve and maintain the peace and order situation of the City. There was a plan to install close circuit TV monitoring, what happened to that?
More people should be hired, even just on Job Orders, to patrol crucial points in the City, to complement and augment the police force as auxiliaries or volunteers because that is what the residents of the City need. We need to be protected from these criminal elements.
Each barangay should be encouraged and supported in their efforts to strengthen their Barangay Intelligence Network, and their tanod should be capacitated to be more effective in fighting criminality at their level. There has to be a way to keep our community safe.
Rizal Boulevard should be a safe place for everyone at any time. For many years now, the walking groups of Momeng Uy, Petit Baldado, Boy & Fely Gonzales, and their merry bunch at Iyay’s Painitan at the public market, the dancing ladies, the health fitness buffs or the senior citizens on their daily exercise routine should be free from the threats of any criminal incident.
The boulevard is a location in the City that provides a sanctuary for those who seek to watch the sunrise or the moon illuminating across the Tanon Strait, or gaze at the island of Siquijor and wonder about its mysteries.
This should be a wake-up call. Keep the Rizal boulevard safe..
