Cebu City police seal off the area where Kalunasan Barangay Councilman Ruel Mabano was shot dead. CDN Photo/Benjie Talisic
The spate of killings that occurred within a span of three hours each last Tuesday had some Cebu City residents anxious, and others feeling a lot safer than usual.
A 55-year-old peanut vendor named Samuel Andrino didn’t feel so safe when he learned about the daylight murder of their barangay councilman Ruel Mabano in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City last Tuesday.
“Murag dili na siguro kay daghang natukod na gang tungod sa shabu. Mahibong lang ko sa Cebu nga maghilak ang adlaw kon walay patay (I don’t think so because many gangs were formed due to shabu. I noticed in Cebu that there’s no day that goes by with no killings),” he said.
Edmond Navarro, a university instructor, shared Andrino’s sentiments.
“As long as I still continue to experience irresponsible motorists, and continue to hear news about holdups or snatching and stray bullet victims, I can never totally feel safe. I will just have to be vigilant and pray that I won’t be the next stray bullet victim,” he said.
Andrino said the government should strictly enforce their curfew ordinance to keep loiterers at night.
But security guard Mario Eslabon said he never experienced any untoward incident which would convince him that Cebu is not safe to live in.
“Safe raman dili sama sauna nga daghan ang patay. Karon higpit naman kaayo, murag nalinaw na gamay dili parehas sauna nga grabe (It is safe, unlike before there were many killings. Because the government is strict now, it seems peaceful now compared to before),” Eslabon said.
For Fe Barino, chairperson on the Commission on the Laity, said the spate of killings showed that security is fleeting even in Cebu. She said people should trust their government to protect them.
”Wala kitay mahimo kon dili isalig ta sa gobyerno ang pagbantay sa kalinaw kay mao may ilang katungdanan ug responsibilidad (We cannot do anything about it but to trust the government whose responsibility is to ensure our safety),” she said.
Provincial Board (PB) member Sun Shimura, head on the committee on public safety, peace and order, said the killings will impact heavily on tourists and investors.
“I’m sure it will cast us in a bad light. It will be a very big challenge to law enforcement agencies to solve these crimes. It is bad enough that those unresolved killings were left forgotten. As long as people see that these crimes are being solved they will trust the police and these other agencies to do their jobs,” he said.