When it comes right down to it, perhaps it’s just as well that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and the Cebu City police mind their own business, at least for most of the time, since the police should do their job free from political pressure or influence.
The mayor had just about enough of the ongoing revamp of police officials that as of the latest count involved the transfer of Supt. Rex Derilo, Supt. George Ylanan, Supt. Marvin Sanchez, Supt. Teofilo Siclot, and Supt. Rodolfo Albotra.
To be fair, the mayor invested time, money and effort in launching a take-no-prisoners anti-drug campaign that rewarded cops who killed a suspected drug pusher or user that resisted arrest.
He also posted bail for his former bodyguard Adonis Dumpit and was even engaging then incoming President Rodrigo Duterte in a game of one-upmanship to see who could have the most number of drug dealers and users killed (in the line of duty, of course).
When the President ordered the national revamp in the wake of his disclosure that top ranked police officials both active and retired were protecting drug dealers, that’s when it all started to fall apart.
When Osmeña disclosed that his request to PNP leadership to give Supt. Patrocinio Comendador some time before being transferred was denied, not a few were opposed to the idea of the mayor to withhold his cash reward for the police.
That the mayor accused new Cebu City police chief Senior Supt. Joel Doria of being relieved as Pasay City police chief due to drugs in relation to the Close Up concert fiasco was inconclusive and spoke more about his disappointment rather than the actual circumstances of Doria’s exit.
But then what he, his predecessor and former protege Michael Rama and other local officials had to remember is that police officials are supposed to be more autonomous than they give them credit for.
When push comes to shove, the local police force will always listen to their superiors in Camp Crame and by extension, President Rodrigo Duterte, who had ordered the revamp.
If Mayor Osmeña has any complaint, he should take it up with the President rather than PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa, who uncharacteristically had to go out of his way to appeal to the mayor to reconsider his position not to give assistance to the city police.
While his efforts against criminality and the illegal drug menace were appreciated and even questioned by rights groups and those who believe strong, legally proper law enforcement remains the best deterrent against crime, Mayor Osmeña knows only too well that in the end, it is the President who will make the decisions on the police.
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