There are at least two things to consider in Cebu City Mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña’s announcement of a P50,000 reward for law enforcers and civilians who “legally” kill suspected criminals.
One and probably the most obvious question that may be easily overlooked amid the hype and surprise surrounding the mayor’s announcement is where would Osmeña source the cash reward from? The most likely source is the intelligence fund that would be appropriated at his disposal once he assumes office on June 30.
But Osmeña confirmed the announcement even before he is set to take over City Hall where his wife Councilor Margot Osmeña sits as acting mayor. When Cebu Daily News asked him where he would source the funds, the mayor bluntly said, “It’s none of your business.”
Osmeña’s proclivity towards bluntness, even arrogance, is well known, but regardless, he knows in his years of public service that he and the rest of his camp are accountable for whatever money is spent for whatever programs he is implementing, including the allocation of cash rewards.
In fact the call for accountability is even greater now that he is calling the shots even if he has yet to formally assume office. Whether he sources the funds from private contributors who would rather keep a low profile but support Osmeña’s all out-war against crime or take them from his own pocket, the public has the right to know for purposes of transparency.
The recent shooting of a robbery suspect near the Ayala passenger jeepney terminal that wounded two robbery suspects resulted in PO3 Julius Regis receiving a P20,000 cash reward since the two men survived.
Which brings us to the question of how this cash reward will impact on police operations against criminal elements. Would this make them more efficient and scare the criminals away as Osmeña hopes it would, or would it make the police get more creative in mowing down criminal elements to the point of them disregarding due process in exchange for monetary considerations or locally known as “pamugas”?
To put it bluntly as Osmeña is fond of doing to those who dare question his judgement, would the cash rewards incentivize extra judicial killings despite the mayor’s insistence that it should be “legal killings”?
When asked whether the cash rewards would encourage vigilantism, Osmeña said it’s not his problem but that of the criminals who would eventually be backed into a corner by an overly eager police force motivated to do their job all the more by the promise of a nice cash reward.
We understand that the cash reward was intended to be a morale booster to police and a warning against criminal elements to stay away from the populace, but isn’t effective law enforcement feasible without resorting to Western-style shootouts that may catch innocent bystanders in the crossfire?
Such issues of due process and human rights, however, may willfully be disregarded by a citizenry goaded into adopting a hardline mindset that questions why criminals should be accorded their rights when they themselves have violated the rights of their victims by inflicting violence on them.
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