Guv: Give cash reward instead to informants

P5M BOUNTY

INSTEAD of giving rewards to those who can kill ninja cops, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III believed it would be best that President Rodrigo Duterte’s P5 million bounty be given to witnesses instead.

Davide said this following the announcement of the President that he will give a reward to anyone who could bring a dead ninja cop.

“My personal position, if there is money available for killing ninja cops, I would rather that this big reward be given to those who can give information gyod,” Davide told reporters on Wednesday.

Mr. Duterte said during his speech in the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HP) convention in Davao City on Aug. 17, that he will give a P5 million bounty for anyone who can produce a dead ninja cop and only P10,000 for a live rogue cop.

“Policemen have many abuses … I told you to stop it already … for ninja cops, I will raise the amount to P5 million if you bring him to me dead,” Duterte said during the convention.

“If you bring a ninja cop to me alive, I will give you P10,000. I am not joking. If I say it in public, that’s true,” he added.

Davide said the reward could only encourage killings between “scalawags.”

“Posible man gud nga matintal ang mga tawo nga mag-unay ang kining mga scalawags,” he said.

(It would be possible that scalawags would kill each other because of the money).

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña in an earlier interview expressed support to the President’s move to give incentives.

Osmeña, who has been at odds with some police officials in Cebu, said he and the President share the same mindset adding that he is willing to add P50,000 on top of the President’s P5 million reward.

However, Davide believed getting more information from verified sources is a better way than to kill erring cops.

“I would rather nga kining kwartaha ihatag nalang sa mga informants, mga confidential informants nga reliable sad gyod,” he said.

(I would rather that this money be given to confidential and reliable informants).