Thursday, March 22, 2007 Espinoza: Four abusive cops By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
AFTER the drug case that they filed against the two women they illegally arrested in Talisay City was dismissed, four Cebu City policemen are now facing charges with the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
Charged with corruption and grave misconduct were PO2 Bernabe C. Alegado, PO2 Tremaine F. Sotto, PO1 Christopher B. Torregosa and PO1 Emmanuel Alibango Blones. They are assigned at the Fuente police station.
Although the cops enjoy the presumption of innocence, they should be summarily dismissed from the police service for what they did to the two women.
A source said that one of the two women was still carrying her two-year-old child when they were illegally arrested in their home in Talisay. The other woman was forced to walk barefoot up to the gasoline station in Bulacao.
These cops are what we call scalawags in the police force. Because of them, efforts of the Philippine National Police hierarchy to redeem the organization’s image are being put to naught.
Meanwhile, the two women deserve praise and commendation for standing up to the abusive cops. My only wish is that they won’t succumb to possible pressures for settlement.
As for my students in the College of Criminology, I always advise them not to use their uniforms and guns to advance vested interests once they become cops.
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That report that the Court of Appeals (CA) will be closed because it is perceived to be corrupt saddened me.
The story, carried by a columnist of a national daily about two weeks ago, hurt and offended the associate justices. Who would not be hurt, by the way, if the accusations were not true?
Anyway, as a lawyer and as an officer of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Cebu chapter, I say the accusation is unfounded and very unfair.
The establishment of the CA here is a big relief for us since we don’t have to worry about deadlines because the CA is only a few steps away, so to speak, from the offices of lawyers in Cebu City.
But the report was plain rumor. The fact that P70 million has already been allocated for the construction of the CA building beside the ombudsman office only shows that the writer of the article did not get the correct information.
CA Cebu Executive Justice Arsenio Magpale, in an interview, denied that the CA will be closed. He said he has not received any directive from the Supreme Court to this effect.
I am sure the Supreme Court is more than aware of CA Cebu’s performance, particularly in the resolution of cases. It is on top of the others nationwide in the matter of case disposals.
***
The decision of Joy Ouano not to run for mayor against her nephew, Jonkie, will boost the mayoralty bid of the latter. Jonkie is being challenged by Jonas Cortes and Ading Seno.
Joy was the one who made the first move, thus Jonkie has every reason to be grateful to her aunt. The reconciliation took place in the house of Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos, something that sent shivers down the spine of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
The meeting led Mayor Osmeña to suspect that the Ouanos are out to support de los Santos in her bid for Cebu City mayor in the May 14 polls. This can be the reason why the Osmeñas forged a political alliance with Jonas Cortes, who is running for mayor against Jonkie.
Can they put down the Ouanos politically? That will not be answered until after the May 14 polls. But in our elections, the man who has the gold rules.
