DURING the visit of Gov. Gwen Garcia to China recently, certain Chinese government officials reportedly complained to her about the deteriorating peace and order condition in Cebu. No doubt, it is not just of Cebu City but in the province’s towns as well.

Lately, there have been a number of reports regarding criminal outbreaks that the police in the municipalities have failed to solve. It is probably much more so in the matter of crime prevention.

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This complaint is not something we can brush off lightly. It is, sadly, a comment from a foreign source of an existing condition in our province. And coming as it does from a neighbor with a big economic clout in our part of Asia, we should sit up and take note.

China’s clout does not only affect our tourism, export and import industry but also fundamental investments that could mean new businesses and new jobs. The Chinese government officials who complained to the governor must be concerned with our viability as an economic partner.

China is an economic behemoth in search not only of markets for its industrial products but also of dependable sources of raw materials. It is, in a sense, also our source of the materials that we need for our own economy.

Hence, if our peace and order situation is in a gravely deteriorated condition, what security could we offer tourists and business investors in our province?

Not long ago, there was a series of bank hold ups in the Metro Cebu area. Even people riding in public transport in Cebu City were held up for their cell phones, their money and jewelry, and the police have not been able to do anything about them. Crimes against persons were committed in the towns, too, recently in Toledo City.

The painful thing is, with all these happening in almost all places of Cebu, and with many of them unsolved or left hanging, projecting an image of law enforcement helplessness or incompetence, what are we to do? How do we correct foreigners’ impression of our peace and order condition?

Even in my hometown, Balamban, killings still happen despite the alertness of our law enforcers because of the ease with which criminals are able to secure weapons that kill.

Perhaps, what we truly need, more than our dependence on the security our government offers, is a measure of personal commitment on our part. We should always be wary of our safety and the safety of our homes rather than rely only and fully on the security from our government.

We know only too well how inadequate sometimes police protection could be.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 6, 2009.