Gun-for-hire groups: Police say no active ones in Cebu City

Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, Deputy Director for Operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) | CDN Photo/ Emmariel Ares
CEBU CITY, Philippines — There are no active gun-for-hire groups in Cebu City as of today. This is what the the Cebu City Police Office said after a 15-year-old boy, suspected to be a gun-for-hire personality, was taken into custody in Dalaguete town, southern Cebu at around 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 3.
The minor is accused as one of the gunmen in the almost fatal shooting of a 40-year-old woman in Sitio Riverside, Brgy. Duljo Fatima, Cebu City.
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Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that they had intensified their investigation on the boy’s alleged illegal activities.
However, she clarified that they had not monitored any active gun-for-hire groups operating in Cebu City as of today.
She also said that the 15-year-old boy was found to have been involved in the illegal drug trade.
“Currently, based on our intelligence monitoring, there are no gun-for-hire groups here in Cebu City. The intention lang jud ato nga particular nga minor, who is now have been referred to the CSWS for processing and determination sa iyang discretion, is that naa gihapoy involvement sa illegal nga droga,” she said.
(Currently, based on our intelligence monitoring, there are no gun-for-hire groups here in Cebu City. The intention really of that particular minor, who is now being referred to the CSWS for processing and determination of his discernment, is that there is still involvement in illegal drugs.)
Following his arrest, the minor was placed under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7).
He will be subjected to rehabilitation and further steps will be made depending on the result of the assessment of his discernment.
Macatangay highlighted that the minor’s alleged crimes was the unfortunate result of his upbringing and the kind of environment he grew up in.
“Sa ana unta nga edad, nagtuon pa ang kani nga mao nga bata. So it speaks volumes and lengths as well to the kind of environment that this particular child grew upon. Di sad ko ganahan nga moblame ta sa ginikanan. But again, naa gyud gihapoy dako nga responsibilidad ug kalambigatan ang mga ginikanan, ang mga igsuon, ug ang environment in general nga gikadakoan sa bata,” she said.
(In that age, the child should have been studying. So it speaks volumes and lengths as well to the kind of environment that this particular the child grew upon. I also do not like to blame the parents. But again, they have a big responsibility and involvement of the parents, his siblings, and the environment in general that the child grew upon.)
Macatangay added that the criminals’ strategy of using minors in their illegal activities was a recurring problem that law enforcement units were still dealing with to this day.
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