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Saturday, June 29, 2002
Razon failed to address drug problem: mayor
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
ALTHOUGH he acknowledged that PRO 7 chief Avelino Razon Jr. has never been linked to illegal gambling, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña believes the regional command failed to address the problem.
“I don’t see any effort of the regional command (against gambling),” Osmeña told reporters yesterday.
The City, he said, is even “frustrated” with reports that some video carrera operators, specifically in Barangay T. Padilla, are “reportedly protected by regional police.”
No involvement
But Osmeña said that like Gov. Pablo Garcia, he has not heard of reports or even rumors of Razon’s involvement in illegal gambling activities here.
Although the problem is rampant, Osmeña believes the proliferation of the illegal activity is “not going wild.”
But Razon, whom he earlier criticized for relieving former Cebu City Police Office director Hiram Benatiro of his post, has the prerogative to resign following the allegations.
If Razon is questioning his relief due to command responsibility, Osmeña reminded the police official that it was the same reason he used for Benatiro’s relief.
“It destroyed the career of Benatiro,” he said of the police official, whom he is hiring as consultant in the city’s community-based peace and order program, Oplan Pakigsandurot.
Grateful
Meanwhile, Osmeña lauded Acting CCPO Director Josephus Angan and supported the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council’s (PCAC) recommendation for the spot promotion of Angan as senior superintendent so he would qualify as permanent replacement of former CCPO chief Lani-o Nerez.
However, he said “only time will tell” if Angan will be a good chief of police.
When sought for comment, Angan said he is “grateful” for PCAC’s recommendation but admitted that it is a “signal” for him to double or triple his efforts.
Following the Metrobank robbery, Angan urged security agencies to carefully screen their guards and to thoroughly check their background before hiring them.
He also appealed to local legislators to give more teeth to laws against gambling, which he said is a problem with social, moral and economic factors.
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