HAD the Bank of Commerce (BOC) robbery been a week later, its outcome could have been different.   In fact, that week, BOC branches nationwide were initiating a revamp in security procedures, a change that could make the job doubly hard for the robbers to grab the money, shared Police General Prospero Noble Jr.  Himself an experienced police officer who assumed the bank's Vice President for administration where the Security Department falls under, retired police Chief Superintendent Noble however said, too bad the changes have not reached Bohol.  Gen. Noble came to Tagbilaran City together with Pacific World Security and Detective Agency general manager Eric Dimaculangan Tuesday, September 4 to hand in financial assistance to the slain security guard Remegio Canizar.  Canizar, a security agent of Manila-based Pacific World died while foiling an attempt to rob all the cash deposits of a department store while on the route to the bank. Robbers only managed to run with a bagful of loot, part of which was recovered when police cornered the wounded suspects.

 “It is more sad to say that death has become our rallying factor, but too bad we (at the bank) were just implementing changes in security procedures and it was not able to get to Bohol yet,” bemoaned Noble, who had his share of active police work which capped with a regional director post in his hometown Zamboanga.  Noble, who now sits as the bank's Vice President for administration learned of the rob incident just a few minutes after the incident, pressed that it could have been different had his changes been implemented here.  Distinguished as the first police general from the Zamboanga peninsula, Noble also hailed security guards Meliton Lamoste and Tirso Fullido who were wounded during the robbery attempt.  “In my 37 years as active policeman, I never took any hit”, he said.

 Citing the successful arrest of the persons implicated in the robbery, Noble also lauded the city residents and the other unnamed Boholanos who helped the police crack on the perpetrators.  “We have seen how crucial it is when the community actively helps the police track criminals who otherwise could run scot-free from the law”, he pointed out.   “With the success, we hope we can encourage more of the community participation in the anti-crime efforts”, he said, apparently enlisting the community as force multipliers for the often undermanned anti-crime force.   For BOC, Noble handed in P50T to Canizar while Dimaculangan handed in P10T as financial assistance to the security guards who were wounded in the robbery.  The P10T was from the Association of Chief Security Officers of the Philippines , Dimaculangan disclosed. Noble also handed in commendations for the guards and issued a posthumous award to the fallen guard.