SOLVE THE KILLINGS, POLICE URGED

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Gov. Hilario Davide III and Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) President Antonio Chiu all asked the PNP to solve the ‘alarming’ spate of killings in Cebu before it hurts its reputation and its economy

Is the peace and order situation in Cebu deteriorating?

With 45 unsolved murders in just about a month, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña urged the police to closely investigate the killings, and to step up their anti-criminality campaign before the situation gets out of hand.

“It’s alarming, very alarming. If there was only one or two incidents (killings), that’s normal. But when you see there’s many, and there’s a pattern, my conclusion is that the criminals now are not afraid,” he said in a press conference on Thursday.

Osmeña said the police must act on complaints raised by ordinary citizens to encourage the public to cooperate in their investigation and in the process help in the speedy resolution of murder cases.

He advised investigators to forego the “incompetent and traditional” means of securing information on illegal operations from persons they arrested.

“The traditional way of police getting information is through assets who happened to be criminals. The problem there is they ask protection for their connection and before you know it, many of the petty criminals here are protected,” he said.

Based on the tally made by Cebu Daily News, 45 persons were killed by unknown assailants in separate incidents in Metro Cebu from February 17 to March 22.

The latest incident occurred last night, when three persons were killed when they were ambushed near the M.R.F. dumpsite area in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City.

Chief Insp. Wayne Magbanua, chief of the Mactan police precinct (Station 2), told CDN that the three still unidentified male victims were dead on the spot from several gunshot wounds.

Magbanua said the victims were on board a motorcycle heading towards Barangay Bangkal of the city when a man driving another motorcycle overtook them and repeatedly fired at them.

According to Magbanua, the victims were found to be armed with handguns and could also be criminal elements.

“(It was) possible that they (the victims) were gun for hire or maybe robbers,” Magbanua added.

The incident occurred barely a day after Eddie Barte, a 49-year-old former inmate who was exonerated of illegal drugs charges, was killed.

Barte was inside his sari-sari store at Consuelo Village in Barangay Basak, Mandaue City, when two men on board a motorcycle fired shots at him past 11 p.m. on Wednesday.

Barte succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds on the body.

Based on the investigation, Barte was arrested in 2002 for his alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade. But for failure of the prosecution to present sufficient evidence against him, Barte was exonerated of the charges and was released from detention last year.

The killing of Barte happened just about five hours after former Talisay City councilor Emilio “Emil” Go was gunned down by a still unidentified assailant inside his family compound at Mansueto Village in Barangay Bulacao, Talisay City.

Investigators are looking into business rivalry in the illegal drug trade as well as illegal gambling as possible motives in the killing of Go. (see separate story on page 2)

Of all the killings in Metro Cebu since February 17, police have not solved a single case yet.

‘Give us time’

Supt. Reyman Tolentin, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), assured the public they were not sleeping on their jobs and that investigators are closely investigating all murders in Cebu.

“Please give us time. We can’t solve the killings overnight. Every killing has its own particular circumstances. We will try to look into all the angles as we ask our investigators to dig deeper into each case,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

Tolentin believed that members of illegal drug syndicates are now going against each other since the government made life difficult for them through its relentless war on drugs.

While it is a “good” sign for the police, he said they were not in any way tolerating the killings.

Tolentin urged police station chiefs and unit heads to enhance police visibility and to intensify their campaign against loose firearms.

Amid the spate of killings, Tolentin said there was no reason for the public to be alarmed since there were no links to connect these murders to each other.

“There are no vigilantes so to speak, and we should stop speculating,” he said.

Included in the list of unsolved murder cases were the ambush-slay of lawyer and Ronda town Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab, Korean businessman Shang Ho Lee, SPO1 Ben Serjihos, PO2 Rome Bolaño and San Fernando town Councilor Alexander Alicaway.

Afraid no more

Years back, Osmeña said criminals were afraid to operate, particularly in Cebu City.

“When I was mayor before, they’re all dead. You make one move, you’re dead. Like what happened to Jaguar (Jeffrey Diaz), Yawa (Rowen Secretaria) … During my time, it was very aggressive. They are very afraid. Now, they’re not,” the mayor noted.

Secretaria, the third most wanted drug personality in Central Visayas, was killed in a police operation on Banacon Island in Getafe, Bohol, on May 28, 2016.

Three weeks later, on June 17, 2016, Diaz, tagged as Cebu’s top drug lord, was gunned down in what police said was a shootout in Las Piñas City.
Osmeña vent his ire on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) which, he said, usually comes in and investigate only when suspected criminals are killed.

“In Cebu, criminals have human rights. The victims have no human rights. That’s why there’s a lot of killings. You see (CHR) complaining when a councilor gets shot? No,” he said.

“(These unresolved number of killings), it’s bad. So, you tell CHR to solve them. The problem is that criminals are not scared because they have the human rights,” he added.

Respect human rights

Sought for comment, CHR-7 Director Arvin Odron said the commission just wanted to make sure that the rights of everyone are protected, regardless of their social status, position, or religion.

“Many government officials view human rights as a hindrance to peace and security. But a sustained campaign on human rights is seen as a way to strengthen human rights,” he said in a text message to Cebu Daily News.

Odron said killing criminals will not address lawlessness in any locality.

“Let it be noted that it is not for us to take the natural rights of a person to life, not even the government, even in the exercise of its inherent police power, which is simply to regulate the enjoyment of human rights for the common good,” he said.

Under human rights’ standards, Odron said whoever takes the life of any person has to be held accountable.

Cebu City Councilors Joel Garganera and Raymond Alvin Garcia said the killings in Metro Cebu have become alarming, but assured the public that the city remains a safe place to live and do business.

“That’s one of the problems of a highly populated metropolis or city especially when those involved are public officials, former public officials, lawyers. You can say it’s alarming but the police are on top of it. We feel secure,” said Garganera.

Garcia said they have “full trust and confidence” in the police in ensuring the safety of the residents of Cebu City.

Exert effort

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, meanwhile, appealed to the police to take the necessary steps to solve and stop the killings.

“There’s a need to step up police visibility and set up checkpoints in critical areas,” he said.

Cebu Provincial Board Member Sun Shimura said he penned a resolution to urge the Philippine National Police (PNP) to expedite the investigation on the recent killings in Cebu.

“(We are) requesting the PNP to fast-track the investigation of the crimes happening in the province of Cebu especially the series of killings,” he said.

Shimura, the chairman of the Provincial Board’s Committee on Public Safety, Peace and Order, feared that the series of killings would discourage tourists from visiting Cebu.

He lauded Board Member Edsel Galeos for having authored the resolution that requires local government units to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the provincial highways to prevent criminalities or to help police in their investigations.

“This is one way of showing our international tourist that despite all these very sad reports of killings in Cebu, we are doing something, and that we are not just sitting on the problems,” Shimura said.

Bizmen’s concern

Business leaders are also getting concerns over the spate of killings in Metro Cebu, said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) President Antonio Chiu.

So far, however, he said these have not significantly affected the business climate in the province.

“The killings has not really affected the business climate in Cebu but that does not mean that we are not concerned. While we have full trust and confidence in the PNP to maintain peace and order, we strongly urge our PNP authorities to resolve the recent killings,” Chiu said. /with reports from Norman V. Mendoza, Jessa O. Sotto and Jose Santino Bunachita

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