Cebu City could have ranked higher in safest cities list – Tolentin

While Cebu City was hailed as one of the safest cities to live in Southeast Asia, criminals should beware.

Supt. Reyman Tolentin, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), warned those involved in illegal activities that law enforcers will run after them.

“Cebu is really very safe for peace-loving and law-abiding people. But for lawless elements, especially those into the illegal drug trade, Cebu is not safe for you,” he said in an interview on Monday.

Tolentin said they welcomed the news that Cebu City was among the safest cities in Southeast Asia but said the city could have ranked better than the eighth spot.

“The report just goes to show that your police is working. The peace and order efforts throughout the region could be one of the reasons why Cebu City was named as one of the safest cities in Southeast Asia,” he said.

On April 8, Numbeo, an online database that provides an index of living conditions of all cities around the world, ranked Cebu City as the eighth safest city in Southeast Asia. The ranking came despite the spate of shooting incidents and unresolved killings that happened since last month.

Singapore was named the safest city while Valenzuela City in the Philippines ranked second. Other cities in the Philippines who made it in the list were the cities of Davao (fourth place), Makati (fifth place), and Baguio (sixth).

Despite the development, Tolentin urged policemen to work even harder to make Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas safe at all times.

For his part, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña also urged the public to continue to cooperate with the government by providing valuable information.

“Collectively, we have the best police chief. (Cebu City Office on Substance Abuse Prevention Executive Director) Garry Lao is doing his share. We have Dave Tumulak (deputy mayor on police matters). But most of all, we have the people of Cebu for sharing valuable information the police cannot even get,” Osmeña told reporters in a press briefing yesterday.

“I hope they will continue to report to me what’s happening in the barangay, and I forward this to the police because they don’t like to call the police directly. They report them to me that’s why I receive so many texts,” he added.

The mayor also said the numerous drug busts conducted in Cebu City were due to reports and complaints he got through texts.

“They tell me like ‘mayor, daghang shabu dinhe’. That’s why we have plenty of buy busts. We’re number (in carrying out buy busts). Without that, it’s very hard. It’s like looking for a fish in a very dirty ocean,” the mayor said.