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Monday, December 27, 2004
Nalzaro: Criminals: your days are numbered
By Bobby Nalzaro
WE HAVE been terrorized by criminal elements operating in the city. For us in the media, a crime is no longer news because it happens everyday and everywhere in the city even in broad daylight and before the eyes of the horrified public.
It’s now common for robbers to strike anytime of the day, victimizing innocent and helpless civilians. These notorious characters will not even hesitate to kill their victims if they resist. Drugs and poverty may be blamed for rising criminality in our midst.
To counter this problem, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced last week his plan to organize a special and elite unit composed of selected sharp-shooting policemen to go after criminal elements. He will call this unit the “hunter’s group.”
The mayor, however, shouldn’t have revealed his plan to the public. Look what happened. The group is yet to be formed but it already has triggered negative reactions from human right groups and church officials, who are perceived to be pro-life.
Even if the mayor insists that this group will abide by the law when running after criminal elements, we cannot blame the public for suspecting that the objective of this group is to eliminate criminals through extra-judicial means or the so-called “summary execution” (in the underworld parlance, salvaging.)
Now, public suspicion has been bolstered following the killing of at least five notorious criminal elements over the weekend, four of them a day before Christmas. Unknown assailants killed three of them at the port area. Also, a known drug dealer in Camputhaw suffered the same fate.
Now, there are nagging questions? Were these the handiwork of Osmena’s hunter group? This suspicion could have been avoided had Tomas not announced the creation of the special team. We cannot blame pro-life individuals and organizations for pointing an accusing finger at the mayor because he revealed it publicly. The group could have operated incognito or undercover so their work would not be subject to public criticisms.
In Davao City, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte disassociated himself from the Davao Death Squad, even though his critics, especially the church, attributed the activities of this salvage group to him. If you ask me, I support the creation of this group 100 percent. It is high time our local officials and police authorities adopt an “iron fist” policy in dealing with the city’s criminality.
But I have to make it clear, I support this move as long as the operations of this soon to be created group are within legal bounds.
When will we move to control the nefarious activities of the criminals? I hope the mayor can also effectively monitor the activities of this group. Because once its members abuse their power, I will be their number one enemy. (Bobby(at)sunstar(dot)com(dot)ph/09193181404)
(December 27, 2004 issue)
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