Osmeña: Cebu City to stop paying for repair of city-owned police cars

SHORTLY after he accused the police of cuddling killers, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced the Cebu City government will no longer shoulder the cost of repairs of around 90 city-owned vehicles that are assigned to the police.

“Look, we’re drawing the line here. From now on, all the city vehicles that are with the police, they take care of their own maintenance. I’m not going to bother with that,” said Osmeña on Friday.

The mayor’s decision came in the heels of his public criticisms against the Cebu City Police Office and the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) over the spate of killings in Metro Cebu and their handling of the case of Tejero Barangay Councilman Jessielou Cadungog.

Cadungog, an ally of Osmeña under Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), was first reported to be a target of a failed ambush try but is now facing murder charges for the death of a policeman, P03 Eugene Calumba, who was shot and killed by Cadungog’s bodyguard, William Macaslang Jr., for allegedly pulling a gun on the latter while driving the vehicle owned by the village official along T. Padilla Extension in Cebu City on July 30.

Calumba, dressed in civilian clothes and riding in tandem on a motorcycle driven by a police volunteer, was suspected to have the intentions of killing Cadungog, an allegation that was debunked by PRO- 7.

Aside from providing funds to the CCPO for the repair of the vehicles, including motorcycles, the city government also gives fuel subsidy for the city-owned police vehicles and has been processing and paying for their annual registration with the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

In a separate phone interview with Cebu Daily News, Department of General Services (DGS) chief Ronald Malacora said he was now waiting for a written order from Osmeña to cut off maintenance expenses to vehicles used by the police.

“He already gave the verbal orders. So probably next week, the written order will be issued,” said Malacora.

The city spends around P40,000 to P50,000 for the annual maintenance of each vehicle, according to Malacora.

Osmeña also said he might also ask the CCPO to also take charge of registering the vehicles with LTO.

“Let them do it para sila ba mag-away sa (so that they are the ones who will fight with) LTO. Do we have to go to Mindanao to register the vehicles with the police? Forget about it. Sila na ang bahala (It’s up to them) and they should pay for it,” he added.

However, Malacora said he was yet to receive a directive from Osmeña on the registration of city-owned vehicles being used by the police.

At least P2,000 is spent for the registration of each city-owned vehicle, he said.

Police’s unseen hand

On the other hand, Osmeña stood firm in his belief that some policemen in Cebu could be behind or protecting the perpetrators of the recent spate of killings in the past few days, amid a dare from CCPO director Senior Supt. Royina Garma to prove his claim.

“The attempted ambush on Cadungog being done by the police is good enough to convince me. There is an undisputed pattern of killings with the recent assignment of new police commanders,” said Osmeña.

“Even the governor observed that these are not isolated incidents which are reflective of centralized planning and possible centralized protection with the capability of importing gunmen,” he added.

This prompted the mayor to ask the cooperation of the public in helping him shed light on the peace and order situation in the city.

“I will be responsible for the peace and order but please give me some time because the enemy may come from within (the police). I’m asking Cebuanos for any information that will help save our beloved Cebu,” Osmeña said.