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Saturday, July 16, 2005
Espinoza: A time to test our laws
By Elias L. Espinoza
GAMBLING? If the mobile patrol cops of the Mandaue City Police Office were seldom seen in the streets recently, it’s because they were resting. Or, was it because they were betting on playing cards?
A source told this corner that policemen assigned at the Mandaue City Mobile Patrol Unit had the surprise of their lives when their chief caught them gambling inside the abandoned Uniwide building.
The City Government is now using the unfinished Uniwide building as a storage area. I suppose somebody must have seen the patrol vehicles parked inside the building.
Imagine, it was Supt. Emmanuel Ughoc, who went to the area and saw for himself his policemen gambling in broad daylight and during working hours.
It is possible that the officers’ gambling binge had been going on for a while, but nobody had the nerve to report it.
It is not surprising that despite the efforts of Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano to provide the police with Terrano vehicles, broad daylight robbery still occurs in the city.
The Mandaue City Government leased the Terranos to speed up the response of the police, which have been severely criticized for their apathetic and delayed response during alarms.
Without the mayor’s knowledge, however, some mobile patrol cops were taking their own time and worse, gambling during working hours.
There were even occasions when I saw a mobile car without policemen inside patrolling the city. Only the civilian driver was onboard. It is about time hizzoner takes operational control over the police.
RULE. Those who benefited from the mob rule are now shunning away from it. It is just right. For us to be politically mature, we should go by the rule and majesty of the law.
That’s why we in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu Chapter turned away from calls for President Arroyo to resign. In our country, calls for resignation are a futile exercise.
The stand of the officers of the IBP Cebu Chapter is for the rule of law and due process to govern. If there were evidence of culpable violation of the Constitution, by all means the President should be impeached.
President Arroyo’s admission is more than enough to support the impeachment complaint. Her public apologies do not, in any way, absolve her of her improprieties.
This is the appropriate time for us to test the rigidity of our laws against the person holding the highest position in the government.
Resignation is a personal decision of the President. As far as I know, ours is the only country whose leaders do not know the meaning of resignation. In other words, kapal muks, the ones who still have the chutzpah to face their countrymen and the international community.
NO RED. Does anyone notice that military camps in Cebu are not on red alert despite the ongoing bedlam in Metro Manila? Yes, the military here is not on red alert because Cebu is too far from the trouble.
A military officer was overheard saying that they don’t care what the people in Metro Manila do, as long as Cebu is safe and away from the trouble. Indeed, Cebu is still a paradise in the south.
(July 16, 2005 issue)
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