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Saturday, March 11, 2006
Editorial: Sloppy police work
THE release of four suspected members of a kidnap-for-ransom gang arrested last Sunday at the Mactan airport is one fumbling incident a place proud of its peace and order situation like Cebu does not need.
There is reason then for airport personnel that nabbed Jessie and Ronald Pepino, Richard Orayan and Crisologo Puzon to express dismay over the turn of events and for concerned sectors to condemn the mishandling of the complaint filed against the four.
The furor stems not only from the idea of one missed chance to put suspected criminals behind bars for a longer period of time but also from worries that if the four were really what they were believed to be they could be back targeting innocent people.
Speculations
The release naturally sparked rumors about payoffs, the one reason the public latches on to when suspects get seemingly easy treatment from authorities.
Note that even after the Pepinos and Orayan had already been arrested, Puzon still had the guts to negotiate for their release using his fake military intelligence identification card, until he too was arrested.
And the attempt to free them did not end even with Puzon’s arrest; it continued while the complaint was being prepared until it was filed, thus spawning speculations that with that kind of effort it is not far-fetched to think money was involved.
The other side
But there are also a few points that must not be overlooked, like the fact the suspects were nabbed for illegally possessing guns and for flashing fake identification cards and not for, say, being in the act of kidnapping a businessman.
That situation gave the suspects’ companion a better chance of succeeding in the effort to free them and made it difficult for the police and prosecutors to hold on to them longer because they could not charge them with an unbailable offense.
Or, viewing it from another angle, the situation also provided the corrupt with a number of reasons to justify the suspects’ immediate release.
Background check
Which brings us to the other objectionable point, which was the utter helplessness of law enforcers in unearthing the background of the suspects.
The arrest was effected Sunday but until Wednesday when the complaint for the lesser crime of usurpation of authority was filed paving the way for the posting of the bail, law enforcers were still clueless about the real identities of the suspects.
In short, sloppy law police work also contributed greatly to this mess.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 11, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here.
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