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Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Nalzaro: Councilor as police officer
By Bobby Nalzaro
“Criticisms and death threats won’t stop me from performing my task and I will continue as long as the drug problem exists.”
This was the statement of Cebu City Councilor Agustus Pe Jr. that came out in Sun.Star Cebu last Sunday. Pe was reacting to media criticism that he is poking his fingers into operational matters in the local police force.
I have already heard this phrase uttered several times by elected public servants. But is Pe doing his task for public good or for reelection? And what task was he talking about? Is meddling in police functions a job of an elected public official?
I would like to remind my good friend that people in the north district of Cebu City elected him as their representative in the City Council and not as head of the police department.
Pe, who heads the committee on dangerous drugs, has been accused of intervening in police matters. He conducts surprise inspections on police precincts very early in the morning and berates policemen caught sleeping. He then recommends to his boss, Mayor Tomas Osmeña, that the monthly incentive allowances of the erring policemen be withheld.
Pe is also there during police operations. He then volunteers to present police accomplishments before the media. But is this the duty of a councilor? Or is he doing it just to be in the limelight?
And why are other councilors, even the chairman of the committee on police, not doing this? Because they know their functions and limitations. Pe has therefore no business in intervening in police functions.
If he is concerned with the drug problem, he should pressure the police chief and other operating units to do their tasks. I cannot see any connection between his anti-drug campaign and those surprise inspections on various police precincts. Does he want policemen to run after drug pushers and users even if they are assigned as desk officers?
If you ask me, I would say Pe is not doing this for public service. He is in it for publicity purposes. I even received information he conducts inspections only after drinking sprees with his friends.
Also, I received complaints from police insiders that whenever Pe is in a drinking session with some friends in a beer joint, he orders (not requests) a mobile patrol car to stand by in the vicinity. Is this the kind of city councilor we have?
The Honorable Pe should be reminded that the illegal drug problem can’t be solved through law enforcement alone. There should be other approaches. So what are his other programs in combating this number one menace in our society?
Is Pe conducting symposiums and seminar for the youth? Is he following up the cases filed by the police with the prosecutor's office up to the court? What's the police’s conviction rate?
I doubt if Pe can present figures on this. If he insists on playing policeman, then he should resign as city councilor and apply for the post of city police chief.
(bgnalzaro@gmanetwork.com/ 0919-3181404)
(September 28, 2005 issue)
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