Friday, February 23, 2007 CIDG, crime lab to plead against transfer of sites By Jovy S. Taghoy Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE PNP Crime Laboratory 7 and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 will join the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 in asking Capitol to reconsider the eviction notice it issued against occupants of Province-owned lots inside the Camp Sotero Cabahug on Gorordo Ave., Camputhaw, Cebu City.
CIDG 7 Chief Jose Jorge Corpuz and PNP 7 Crime Laboratory Chief Nestor Sator said they are worried by the decision of the Capitol to evict them because this will affect their operations.
Sator told reporters yesterday the crime laboratory serves the entire Central Visayas, including Cebu province.
Forensic experts need the laboratory to perform tests. Ballistics examinations and paraffin and drug tests are also conducted there, he said.
Sator said they have numerous pieces of evidence that the office has amassed since the 1970s, including dangerous drugs, bullets and slugs and marijuana leaves, and it is very hard to transfer these without securing a well-protected evidence room.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. told Sun.Star Cebu that if the Capitol does not reconsider, they will move the dental clinic and crime laboratory to the hospital that is on a PNP-owned lot.
A new home for the PRO 7 in a five-hectare lot in Consolacion town is also in the “drawing stage,” Alarcio said.
He said the PNP can sell the lot across Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. on Osmeña Blvd. in Cebu City and use the proceeds to build a new headquarters for PRO 7 in the northern town.
The Cebu City Police Office and PNP support units at Camp Sotero Cabahug on Gorordo Ave., Cebu City can then move to Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr.
“For humanitarian reason and public service, I am hoping that the (Provincial Government) will hear our appeal. Much better, if they would just let us stay here,” Sator said.
He said criminals will benefit from their eviction, especially if the crime laboratory can’t find a relocation area.
Sator said the crime laboratory was built inside the camp sometime in 1973. It has undergone many renovations.
Sator attended an emergency conference yesterday morning called by Regional PNP Chief of Staff Drusilo Bolodo, upon the orders of Alarcio and officials of CIDG 7, Regional Traffic Management Office (RTMO) 7 and the PNP 7 Dental Health Services, whose offices are affected by the eviction notice.
The conference was aimed at informing the four PNP support units about the eviction notice issued by the Provincial Government to the Cebu City Police Office, which is not directly affected with the eviction as it sits on a PNP-owned lot.
Prepare
The four support units were also told to prepare for a long-term plan and to find possible relocation areas should the Capitol go ahead with its plan.
CIDG 7 Chief Corpuz shared Sator’s sentiments.
Corpuz said that while the PRO 7 has assured them of a temporary place inside the PRO 7 headquarters at the Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr., services to the public would be greatly affected.
Corpuz said they are willing to move out but his office will exhaust all efforts so they can stay where they are.
If there is a need for them to lease the lot, Corpuz said, he will recommend to the CIDG Central Office to set aside an amount for that purpose.
“I hope this can be resolved...the City and the Province and the PNP. A lot of us will be affected directly, not only us, but the public...Sana magbati na sila (I hope the City and the Province will settle their differences). We are one Cebu,” Corpuz said.
RTMO 7 Director Abdalun Awilun, in a separate interview, said he will just heed the eviction notice.
He said they will find a relocation area near the Land Transportation Office on N. Bacalso Ave., Cebu City.
