DRUG dealers should “move to Talisay City” rather than peddle their illegal trade in Cebu City, incoming Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday.
“I’m giving a warning to all drug pushers in Cebu. Ang mga badlongon hadlok sila kang DU30. Dinhi sa atong siyudad hadlok sila sa June 30 kon ako na ang mamahimong mayor. (Lawless elements fear DU30. In Cebu City, they should be afraid of June 30 when I became mayor),” he told reporters with a smile.
Osmeña said drug peddlers better go to the next city of Talisay.
“I’m giving a warning to all drug pushers in Cebu City. You move to Talisay where the mayor will protect you because here, we will find you and we will do something to you,” he said.
Talisay City Mayor-elect Eduardo Gullas recently told drug lords to “get out of the city” or face his wrath.
But unlike Osmeña, Gullas said there will be no cash rewards for policemen who will kill or injure suspected offenders while in pursuit of a drug lord.
Gullas said he will get rid of criminal elements in Talisay City but police will have to follow the law.
Osmeña, who offers a P50,000 cash assistance to policemen who can kill a criminal, apparently didn’t like Gullas’ statement, prompting him to issue a sweeping remark yesterday.
The incoming Cebu City mayor said the cash assistance isn’t a reward but to help policemen “protect themselves from legal harassment.”
Last week, Osmeña gave P155,000 to members of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, and the Regional Public Safety Battalion for the death of suspected drug lord Rowen Secretaria and his two companions, John Jason Montes and Dario Torremocha, on Banacon Island in Bohol.
Police gave P100,000 of the amount to children with cancer.
“I don’t know why they are giving P100,000 to charity. Maybe they are just ashamed. But that’s really for their protection. Anyway, if they need more, I will spend more. I will protect them,” Osmeña said.
He said he’s happy with his decision to stand by policemen even after they were accused of a rubout by Montes’ parents.
Osmeña reacted after seeing news reports and photos of Montes’ relatives and neighbors in Barangay Ermita who brought placards directed against the mayor during the teenage’s funeral procession last Tuesday.
“So I made the right decision. I don’t know what their point is. You can see that there’s a hidden hand. Just look at the signs they carried. Does that come from a poor family? It was commercially printed, all the wordings are the same, and nice layout,” he said.
“It was a very well orchestrated demonstration. I know its the (drug) group that’s behind that demonstration,” he said. Osmeña said there will be no let up in their campaign illegal drugs.
“Drugs are not only in the mountains, even in the city. Have you ever heard a barangay chairman turning into a drug pusher? Is it not questionable? It’s very clear that there’s protection, not only from barangay officials, even policemen,” he said.