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Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Editorial: Incident in Pasil
First came the claim of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) of the Cebu City Police Office that some 200 residents of Barangay Pasil tried to block its team from leaving a house where they arrested Anatolio Cabanes for drug pushing.
Then followed Barangay Pasil officials saying curiosity, not an attempt to block Cabanes’ arrest, was the reason a sizeable crowd gathered in the area at that time.
This conflicting interpretation by law enforcement agents and barangay officials of what happened in Pasil last June 26 may look minor at first glance, but it provides the public some of the reasons that the campaign against the illegal drugs trade is not gaining headway.
One easily observable point is coordination.
Consider the situation: DEU elements had knowledge of the activities of the alleged drug pusher but were ignorant of the temperament of the people in Pasil. On the other hand, barangay officials are knowledgeable of the temperament of the people in Pasil but were ignorant of the activities of the alleged drug pusher.
Obviously, both government units needed each other but didn’t work together.
DEU chief Jonathan Abella explained the lack of coordination this way: In buy-bust operations, they do not call barangay officials before the arrest to avoid an information leak.
Which brings us to the other point, the seeping into the government bureaucracy of the influence of drug traders—a reality that has weakened the machinery needed for an effective drive against the illegal drugs trade.
Of course, the ideal in the all-out war against illegal drugs is to coordinate the efforts not only of the various concerned government agencies but all units, top to bottom, or from the national government down to the barangay councils.
But with the influence of illegal drug traders in government bureaucracy, reaching the ideal of full coordination can no longer be expected.
There will always be government units wary of other government units, thus prompting them to do things on their own and therefore with less or, in the case of the Pasil incident, with controversial, success.
Vehicles for the SRP
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is reportedly endorsing to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) the appointment of Paul Villarete as city planning and development officer and a regular employee of the City Government.
But, no, that is not what is interesting in this piece of news. After all, if Villarete is really that capable, then CSC should proceed with the mayor’s endorsement.
What is interesting is that Villarete now drives a brand-new Nissan Frontier pick-up while serving as project manager of the South Reclamation Project (SRP). The unit is one of the six vehicles purchased by TOA construction for the SRP for P6.8 million.
Okay, the vehicles may be needed because, as Villarete said, they give mobility for supervision, monitoring and implementation, considering that the SRP is a “huge” area.
Still, one could not set aside the thought that the money used for those shiny vehicles are part of the loan that every Cebuano will pay for in years to come.
(July 1, 2003 issue)
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