* The Police Regional Office 7 will investigate the alleged recruitment of minors into the criminal gang True Brown Style after Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla stated members had been identified in Cebu.
* Lt. Col. Rolan Aliser stated that police stations across Central Visayas have recorded no incidents involving True Brown Style as culprits or minors claiming membership in the group.
* Aliser noted that while police received reports of youth brawls in Barangay Basak Pardo and along Imus Road in Cebu City, the groups involved were not identified as True Brown Style members.
THE Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 will investigate the alleged recruitment of minors into True Brown Style (TBS), a group described by authorities as a criminal gang, after Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said some of its members had been identified in Cebu.
Lt. Col. Rolan Aliser, PRO 7 spokesperson, said police stations across Central Visayas had yet to report any incident involving TBS members.
“So far, we have no recorded incident in which TBS was really the culprit. We also have had no case here involving minors who claimed to be TBS members,” Aliser said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Youth brawls
Police have received reports of brawls among young people in Barangay Basak Pardo and along Imus Road in Barangay T. Padilla, both in Cebu City,
Aliser said. The groups involved, however, have not been identified as TBS members.
PRO 7 has since directed its lower units to strengthen case buildup and step up intelligence monitoring to find out whether the group is active in Cebu.
Online recruitment
Aliser said TBS could still reach Cebu, since urban areas such as Cebu City have large populations.
Recruitment has also become easier through the internet, he said. Police will verify the information and watch for any activity by the group in the region.
Remulla made his remarks during an ambush interview at the Cebu Provincial Capitol, telling reporters that authorities had already identified TBS members in Cebu.
Gang’s origins
The Department of the Interior and Local Government has said TBS started in California in the US and reached the Philippines about 25 years ago as a small group.
Recruits are allegedly ordered to rob people or beat up other young people as part of their initiation. Some are told to steal from convenience stores.
Aliser urged parents to monitor their children’s cellphone use, including the content they view and the groups they join, to protect them from harm. / AYB