Cebu court shooting incident a ‘wakeup call’

THE shooting incident inside a court in Cebu City on Tuesday that killed three people and injured an assistant prosecutor would serve as a wakeup call to the court administrator, said Regional State Prosecutor Jaime Umpa.

While expressing sadness over the incident, Umpa said the court administrator should see to it that all halls of justice in the country be provided with enough security considering that the shooting incident inside the Metropolitan Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 6 in Cebu City is not the first time.

“It’s a wakeup call for our court administrator to instill discipline and provide enough resources so that our halls of justice be secured from criminals,” Umpa told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.

He said shooting incidents inside the courts also happened in Manila, Taguig, Pasay and other parts of the country.

Umpa believed that security lapses has something to do with the incident, as he questioned why Canadian national John Pope was able to bring a gun inside the court without having noticed by the security guards.

He added that Cebu’s Palace of Justice is one of the “strictest halls of justice in the country.”

“That guy was really mad and I heard that he was also frustrated with the justice system in the country. Maybe he thinks that he was a foreigner and was treated shabbily,” Umpa said.

In Cagayan de Oro City, he said security measures at the Hall of Justice have already been heightened.

“I think the executive judge will call a meeting to discuss among ourselves the security measures especially that some of us are bringing firearms so it should be regulated also para maprotektahan,” Umpa added.