Osmeña wants ‘poster boy’ Dumpit back

Bringing back SPO1 Adonis Dumpit to Cebu City is a way to inspire other policemen to work harder against crimes, said Cebu City Mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña.

“I want him here because he’s a poster boy. Daghan kaayong nahadlok kang Dumpit (a lot of people are afraid of Dumpit). I just want him to inspire the other policemen,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

He said his lawyers were still working on the bailout of Dumpit, saying it is a long process. Osmeña has announced that he will shoulder the P250,000 bail for Dumpit, who has been in prison for six years now for killing a 17-year-old suspected robber in December 2004.

Osmeña declined to say how and when Dumpit will be released for security reasons.

Once Dumpit gets back to Cebu City, Osmeña said he will temporarily take care of the policeman.

“I just want him to relax. I want him to calm down. He has to get adjusted to regular society,” he said.

“It’s up to him (if he wants to go back to the police force). He’s a free man which means nobody tells him what to do. But in the initial stages, I will just take care of him. He has to undergo a readjustment period. If you’ve been inside for a long time, it feels strange going out,” he added.

Being convicted and imprisoned, Osmeña said, is the nightmare of all policemen which could also be the reason why they do not want to take a chance on shooting criminals because even if the circumstance was legal, a case can still be filed against them and they would have to go through investigation.

This is also the reason why he said he is putting up a P50,000 cash reward for policemen who can shoot or kill criminals legally.

“Even if it costs more than that (P50,000), I will take care of the legal fees,” he added.

He refused to say though where he will source the money, saying “it’s his problem.”

Osmeña made the pronouncement of rewarding policemen who can go after criminals after lamenting the increase in crime rate in the city in past years. He said criminals are not anymore afraid of the police.

“I will be responsible for peace and order. If it turns bad, you blame me. I will accept full responsibility. But sometimes you have to ask people to look the other way because I’m really going to hit hard,” he said.

“As long as it’s legal, shoot them, kill them. That’s my stance,” he said, adding that people should start fearing the law again.

He added that there are many barangay officials who are involved in gambling and illegal drugs in their areas.

This is his way of being “pro-life,” he said.

He said this should not only be for illegal drugs cases but for all forms of crimes.

“I’m pro-life. Don’t you understand what I’m trying to do? We have the highest murder rate in the Philippines. I want to stop that. How come everybody’s talking about protecting the criminals? What about the victims of the criminals? How come no one speaks out for them?” he said.

Osmeña also said he supports the plan of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to bring back capital punishment in the country.

He said he believes it will really deter crime.

“That’s the only thing that will deter crime. Do you think if you tell the people “please do not commit a crime,” do you think they’ll stop? They don’t care,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dumpit will stay at the regional police camp once he is released after posting bail, said Senior Supt. Renato Dugan, chief of the Regional Personnel and Human Resource Development Division 7.

Dugan said Dumpit needed to stay for at least three weeks to “reconstruct his service records” before he would be allowed to start doing field work again.

“That is our SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for any police officer who have recently reported back from work coming from a suspension or had been charged for criminal cases, or who are in schooling,” said Dugan.

Dumpit, will stay at the Regional Personnel Holding Administration Unit (RPHAU) and will report to the office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday.He said they would have to wait for the command group to propose where his next assignment would be.

Chief Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, regional director of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO-7), said Dumpit has to undergo refresher courses to review his skills after more or less six years in prison.

These would include a review of his skills on how to handle firearms as well as an orientation on the new administrative proceedings of police, according to Comendador.