Reward set for Baguio City crime informers

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city council last Monday approved an ordinance increasing the monetary reward to persons giving information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of any drug pusher or perpetrator of heinous crimes.

In Ordinance No. 15 series of 2014 authored by Councilor Roberto Ortega, the aldermen doubled the initial reward from P1,000 to P2,000.  The additional amount to be given to informers upon conviction of the accused through the testimony of said informers was also doubled from P5,000 to P10,000.

The body also increased the reserve fund for rewards from P50,000 to P150,000.

“The problem of drug addiction has reached epidemic proportions and unless the city takes positive measures to ensure the participation of the constituency, efforts towards the solution of the pressing problem will prove futile.  However considering the danger involved in the apprehension of drug pushers including authors of heinous crimes committed in the city or the Ten Most Wanted Criminals in the City of Baguio, a nominal award to be given as an incentive to encourage the constituents to involve themselves in this endeavor is in order,” Ortega noted.

“The amount of P150,000 to serve as fund for rewards to be given to information… is a small amount compared to the value of the lives that are lost or ruined due to drug addiction or the commission of heinous crimes,” Ortega added.