‘Police no longer reliable’

Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) personnel process the crime scene where four persons were killed in an ambush on Friday in Talisay City.

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is riding his campaign on peace and order as he seeks reelection, saying Cebu is no longer safe.

“Ang usa nako ka priority kay ang kalinaw sa atong syudad. Dili na ta makasalig sa police (One of my priorities is peace and order for our city. We can no longer rely on the police),” he said during his sortie at the Lahug Elementary School gym, in front of thousands of his supporters.

He even asked the audience to raise their hands if they think Cebu City is still safe amid the unsolved cases of killings. But not one hand went up.

“I-isa inyong kamot (You raise your hand). Who thinks Cebu City is safe? Raise your hands. Kinsay nag-tuo safe ang syudad? (Who believes that the city is safe?) What happened?” said Osmeña.

Cebu City Police Director, Senior Supt. Royina Garma criticized what she termed as constant tirades by the mayor against the police.

“Parang pamilya kasi yan. Dapat yung ama sinusuportahan yung anak na ‘kaya mo yan.’ Pero kung yung ama parating sinasabi nga ‘wala gyud ka, di ka masaligan,’ wala sad gyud na,” said Garma.

(It’s like a family. A father must support his son and tell him that ‘You can do it.’ But if the father constantly tells his son that, ‘You are nothing. You can’t be trusted,’ then he is nothing.)

But she gave her assurance that the CCPO and the rest of the Philippine National Police (PNP) will continue to serve the public by doing their jobs.

“As long as may nagpapablotter sa police, naay moduol sa police, maningkamot mi. (As long as people seek our help and come to us, we will strive to do what we can). We are doing our best,” said Garma.

Osmeña’s last criticism against the police was made through a Facebook post hours after robbers shot dead a call center agent in Pope John Paul II Avenue on the dawn of October 3.

He slammed them for apparently refusing to heed his advice on integrating and deploying operatives of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) with the Mobile Patrol Group (MPG) to deter crimes.

The killing of Loraine Temple prompted the mayor to work for a bus system that would transport call center agents to and from their workplace, especially those working the graveyard shift.

Ten days after the incident, another call center agent was robbed but survived with minor injuries.

Berkley Galicina, 24, was on his way home on the night of October 9 when a man with a knife approached him outside a fastfood restaurant along Mango Avenue and demanded that he give him his phone.

The suspect warned Galicina that if he screamed for help, he would stab him.

The security guard of the restaurant eventually noticed the commotion and attempted to catch the suspect but failed.

“I don’t think Cebu is still safe. I never thought that after seeing posts of robberies on Facebook that I would be next,” said Galicina who claimed to have been traumatized by the experience.