|
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
What's Jing role?
* Vice Mayor Michael Rama also asks why Police Coordinating & Advisory Council (PCAC) has not been formally informed about the creation of the team and the training given them
* Twenty-eight sharpshooters start to hunt down criminals but no catch yet, Mayor Tomas Osmeña reports
* No need to inform PCAC, Tomas says, but it can “still have a role, only if they want to…”
TWENTY-EIGHT police sharpshooters have started to hunt down criminals in the city but, weeks after they were formed, have yet to present a catch, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said.
The mayor is pleased, though, as petty crimes have decreased and other units of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) have arrested criminals.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama, in a separate interview yesterday, lamented that the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC) have not been formally informed about the creation of the hunter team and the training of its members.
Rama, also PCAC chairman, questioned the participation of Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Director Rogelio “Jing-jing” Osmeña in the training of the hunter team.
“This has never been discussed in the PCAC. We’re not aware there was a training headed by Jingjing. And what is his role there when he’s supposed to be LTFRB director and helping Citom?” he said.
But the mayor said initiatives and innovations in police operations do not have to go through the PCAC.
“PCAC was not informed about this but they can still have a role, only if they want to because eventually, this hunter team of 28 policemen will be 400. We’ll make the whole police force the hunter team,” he said.
Osmeña also reiterated that Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and other sectors’ appeal will not change his stand on the matter, adding that he will even make the entire CCPO force the hunter team.
“There’s really no conflict with what I see and what the cardinal sees. It’s just the adjustment of priorities because I can’t put the welfare of the criminals on the same level as their victims,” the mayor said, amid pleas from Vidal to stop inspiring vigilante-style killings.
In his homily during the feast of Sto. Niño last Sunday, the cardinal criticized the recent killings, as he appealed for the violence to stop.
The Cebu archbishop also criticized the people who “inspired” the summary executions of suspected criminals in the city—a thinly veiled reference to the mayor’s previous statement that while he had no hand in the killings, he probably “inspired” them.
Osmeña announced in a news conference yesterday that City Hall will soon acquire more vehicles and communications equipment for the hunter team.
The mayor tasked Jingjing, his cousin and chairman of the Cebu Pistol and Rifle Association, to pick the top 28 shooters in the CCPO to compose the team.
With the operation of the hunter team, the mayor said he hopes to inspire the entire police and the public to respond to robberies and report criminal activities to authorities.
Rama said Vidal’s warning about Cebu’s becoming a “shabu province” and “killing city” should not be taken lightly as it may affect the tourism industry.
He told reporters he is proud of the City Council for condemning the vigilante-style killings of 15 suspected criminals in the city. (LCR)
(January 19, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
