So what did Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama do when he found out last week that there was a drug den operating 10 meters away from Cebu City Hall?
He called for the transfer of a Cebu City police outpost near City Hall to another area as well as the transfer of Carbon police precinct inside the Carbon market to an area near Compania Maritima.
“They were so near the (drug den) and they didn’t know it was there. Let’s not talk about the small things they’ve done because they weren’t able to spot the bigger activities,” Rama told reporters.
Besides, the mayor said, removing the tourist police outpost, also called the Community Police Action Center (Compact), would improve the Plaza Sugbo grounds in front of City Hall because it blocks the view of City Hall, the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño and Magellan’s Cross gazebo.
So let’s see. The mayor expresses disappointment over the police’s performance by transferring them and is a lot more concerned about how Cebu City Hall grounds look rather than reports of several Cebu City Hall employees and assorted unsavory types are engaging in pot sessions right under the noses of Cebu City officials?
It’s in times like this that we wonder what his predecessor, former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña, would have done if he were in his place. But then since it’s the political season, it’s best not to speculate lest we step on more toes than usual.
Still, we wonder how serious is the Rama administration in waging the anti-drug campaign other than their usual parade of officials on Anti-Drug Awareness Month and other public relations stuff they do to make themselves look good before their constituents.
It’s not as if he is to blame. He has a city police chief who is supposed to do what he is assigned in the city to do: that is, ensure peace and order. Included in his mandate is to crack down on illegal drug offenders and peddlers.
But to be fair, it’s not as if they’re slacking off. It is said that Rama’s trusted political lieutenants like Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak relayed rumors of the drug den operations to the National
Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which eventually launched the raid and arrested three suspects.
The building is said to be owned formerly by a barangay councilman, and the suspects rent the place for their nefarious activities. That said, it would take more than an inventory of the area where the drug den operates and a beautification campaign to rid it of drug peddlers. If the city government can’t afford to place more police there, at least designate some barangay tanods to patrol the place.
For now, the escape of suspected drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” from his drug den in barangay Duljo-Fatima last September shows that some local officials and city residents, mostly indigent, are suspect in conniving with drug dealers to allow the unimpeded flow of drugs and drug money in Cebu City. Something must be done about it.