Word war continues

OSMEÑA VS PNP

THE word war between Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and the police continued yesterday.

Bristling over allegations by the mayor that police-backed hitmen from Negros Oriental are now in Cebu, top police officers in Central Visayas challenged Osmeña to show proof.

Senior Supt. Angelito Dumangeng, the deputy regional director for operations of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said that if Osmeña could not substantiate his allegations, it would be nothing but “mere statements from politicians.”

He stressed it was not true that hitmen, some of whom are allegedly policemen, have been brought to Cebu.

“We do not practice and we do not import yang mga hitmen … mga law enforcers kami, we do not do that. I do not know where they got that information. Negros is part of PRO-7,” said Dumangeng.

No ‘killer boys’ from Negros

Senior Supt. Royina Garma, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) director, also asked Osmeña to identify his sources about the presence of the so-called “killer boys” in Cebu, which he revealed in a press conference on Monday.

“Of course, I need to know the source so we can start there with the validation,” Garma said.

Like Dumangeng, Garma denied that there is a group of hitmen that arrived in Cebu from Negros Oriental.

“Wala. Hindi totoo. Hindi ko alam bakit may pangalan ng police, pero wala. Na-validate ko na, kaya wala (None. It’s not true. I don’t know why there are names of policemen. I have validated the list and there are no police involved),” Garma said.

“You know, he should just share the information. I want to validate it with him (Osmeña). We can do it privately,” she added.

Osmeña: Be transparent

But Osmeña, in a press conference yesterday, said he has no intention to coordinate with the police and give them details about the information he has been receiving.

He also countered the police’s dare by urging them to be “more transparent.”

“If you’re challenging me, I’m also challenging you to be transparent. You’re feeding the people with wrong information. Don’t fool the public. I want to be transparent about this because you know when you talk something then it gets twisted along the way,” said Osmeña.

On Monday, the mayor announced that he has a list of alleged policemen, civilians, and former soldiers that have been reassigned or were moved to Cebu. Osmeña called these hitmen the “killer boys.”

Wrong information

But Garma said that Osmeña may have been fed with wrong information as anything is possible with the intensified campaign against drugs.

“Anticipated ko na pwedeng mangyari ang lahat ng ito because of my aggressive campaign against all forms of criminality. What I’m doing is to make sure na I will validate the police na nakuha ko yung pangalan. Basta ma-validate ko lang ang involvement nila through a report, I will do something to them,” said Garma.
(I have anticipated that all these things will happen. What I’m doing is to make sure that I will validate the police whose names I have received. If they are proven to be involved through a report, I will do something to them.)

Garma said that Osmeña never revealed that he had been getting threat when they met last week. The CCPO could not evaluate the authenticity and gravity of the threats.

“Anybody can have threats if you have enemies. Ang tanong lang diyan is anong level ang threats mo,” Garma said.

She added that despite the criticisms and pronouncements of the mayor, as well as from the public, the police force are not discouraged on doing their job.

“It is not an attack to PNP (Philippine National Police), but an attack to what we are doing for the community who loves peace, who hates drugs,” Garma said.

Barangay Sinsin

Meanwhile, Osmeña sent a letter to CCPO asking them to establish a checkpoint and deploy at least eight policemen in the road that connects Toledo City and Barangay Sinsin, Cebu City.

In his letter, Osmeña claimed that the roads leading to Barangay Sinsin, a mountain barangay, has served as an exit point for criminals fleeing from Cebu City, especially those transporting drugs and firearms.

He also reiterated his request for the CCPO to assign a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit into the Mobile Patrol Group (MPG), which was the mayor’s condition to restore the city’s financial aid to the CCPO.

The mayor has earlier withheld the release of city fund for the repair and maintenance of about 90 patrol cars.

“This is to ensure public safety and effective maintenance of peace and order by increasing tactical capabilities of and prompt response of the SWAT within the locality amidst the current concerns over the spate of unresolved killings in Metro Cebu,” Osmeña said.

The mayor added that he would only consider reversing his decision if SWAT will be integrated with MPG, particularly in conducting patrols. /with USJ-R Intern Delta Letigio