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Saturday, January 07, 2006
Editorials: PDEA 7’s sniping
Even after Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia ordered Capitol security consultant Byron Garcia to stop commenting on the matter, the controversy over the alleged sniping attack on the cell of potential shabu lab case witness Simon Lao has dragged on.
This is because Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 elements have picked up the quarrel against Provincial Investigation and Intelligence Bureau Chief Juanito Enguerra, who contradicted their “attack on Lao” claim.
PDEA 7 official’s latest salvo is the presentation of a cartographic sketch of the “man” who supposedly fired at Lao’s cell in the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).
The move was apparently meant to embarrass Enguerra, who claimed that the bullets that hit Lao’s cell came from a Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center jail guard who was chasing and fired at a mad dog.
Before that, a PDEA 7 consultant also put into question Enguerra’s integrity by raising the matter of his previous stint in Mandaue City at a time when national law enforcers raided the shabu lab in Barangay Umapad.
The intention there was to make the public believe that Enguerra contradicted the “attack on Lao” claim because he wanted to scuttle the prosecution of the shabu lab case.
What PDEA 7 did not say was that Enguerra investigated the firing incident in CPDRC on orders of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Chief Vicente Loot, who in turn was told by the governor to look into the matter.
The point there is that if PDEA 7 officials were really motivated by the need to ferret out the truth on the matter and not by professional jealousy, then they should have given whatever information they have on the matter to CPPO, the designated investigator.
But there is still time for PDEA 7 officials to redeem themselves, and that is to stop their sniping and instead turn over to the CPPO whatever information they have on the CPDRC incident.
Meaning, they should coordinate and cooperate, not heckle in the sidelines.
Gwen vs. Clavel?
When reports that the political opposition in Cebu province is planning to field Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez against Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, the immediate reaction of those concerned was that it is still too early to talk about politics.
Which is baloney, of course.
The reality is, politicians already prepare for the next elections the day after the last one, and considering that the 2007 polls is but more than a year away, it would be naïve to think that the positioning has not started.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 7, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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