BAÑOC
While I appreciate security guards, who strictly implement the rules and regulations of the establishments that they guard to secure them from bad elements, they should also bear in mind that they have limitations. They should not act like robots and just obey orders as if they don’t have any judgment at all.
Last Tuesday, I was listening to the live report of our veteran radio reporter Paul Lauro, over DYHP RMN Cebu, about a man who fell to his death after he jumped off the 3rd floor of SM City Cebu. The name of the victim was not yet identified and the circumstances of the incident were not yet clear then.
During the live radio coverage, Mr. Lauro approached the ambulance parked outside the SM mall to check on the status of the victim who was still lying inside. He inquired if somebody checked the wallet of the victim so his identity would be known.
However, he was blocked by arrogant security guards, and he was even driven away. That resulted to a heated argument between Mr. Lauro and the guards, which I heard over the radio. Being his station manager, I then called Mr. Lauro and instructed him to get the names of the security guards and the security agency where they belong. I also reminded Mr. Lauro to remain calm.
When our news team made the follow-up report at the hospital where the victim was brought, it was learned that the latter was declared dead-on-arrival. That was the time that he was identified as Rodrigo Maglasang, 45 years old, a native of Palompon, Leyte and worked as an election clerk of Tuburan, Cebu.
The Police, in its initial investigation, said that the victim climbed on the railings of the mall’s third level and suddenly jumped to his death. Many people inside the mall saw victim fall to the ground floor.
Although the brother of the victim told the police that his brother was depressed, it would be better if the police would also check the CCTV footage to confirm what really happened. After all, the investigation results will become credible if it is based on concrete facts.
Going back to the arrogant security guards, I suggest that the management of SM and the owner and manager of the security agency should let the said guards undergo seminars. They should know when to be strict and when to know their limitations especially when it is already outside the mall.
If the said guards were just commanded by somebody who has other interests, then that person should also be included in the seminar. They should not stop the media who get the facts of a medico-legal case for as long as it does not hamper the medical team attending to the victims and for as long as it has not destroyed the body of the crime.
I observed that there were even times in the past that even the police were not allowed by the security guards to enter a private establishment even if there is a crime that happened inside. This is wrong. If a crime happens inside an establishment, then the police have the duty to get inside and investigate, being agents of the state, which law is violated.
On the part of the broadcast media, its only interest is to report the factual incident in a medico-legal case. Note that a medico-legal case is most often instantaneous. There have been many times already that live radio reports are made instruments so that immediate relatives of a victim of a medico-legal case will be informed. In that way they can respond to the hospital where the victim is brought and can help the needs of blood, medicines, etcetera.
It is not easy when a person is hospitalized without any relative who can attend to his needs; more so, when it is a medico-legal incident. Try to put yourselves in the shoes of the victims so that you can understand the good intentions of the media in reporting the incident.