Thursday, October 04, 2007 PNP chief Razon orders police in Cebu City: Stop executions
IN his first visit to Cebu as the highest official in the police organization, PNP Chief Avelino Razon Jr. ordered to put a stop to the summary executions that has been hounding Cebu City since December 2004.
“There should be an end to vigilante killings because that is a shortcut to our legal procedures. People cannot take the law into their own hands,” Razon said in an interview with reporters yesterday.
Razon was in Cebu as the special guest and speaker during the change of command at the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 which is now under the leadership of Chief Supt. Ronald Roderos.
Razon, who once served as the PRO 7 director, said there is a criminal justice system that punishes lawbreakers and “vigilantism is something that we should not allow in our community.”
He vowed to put an end to the killings by strictly enforcing the law, particularly in the crackdown against illegal holders of firearms. Police visibility will also be sustained, Razon said.
“We will monitor and identify these vigilantes,” he said.
Since December 2004, at least 181 people, most of them with criminal records, were summarily executed in Cebu City.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador, in a separate interview, said his office has been working hard to identify and jail the perpetrators.
He, however, admitted unmasking the identities of the perpetrators could not be done overnight.
At present, Comen-dador said the CCPO’s action is more “reactive,” which means responding to alarms and initiating thorough investigations on the matter.
For the past 10 months that the CCPO’s command was entrusted to Comendador, at least four people were killed vigilante-style.
Gunned down recently was Marlon Galinzuga, 40, who lived at the corner of Don Gil Garcia and M. Velez Sts., Barangay Capitol Site.
Galinzuga was killed last Sept. 28 right outside the back gate of the MBF Palace of Justice in Capitol Site.
Last Sept. 5, two motorcycle-riding men shot and killed Richard “Bulhog” Aris shortly after walking out of a Cebu City police station where he was questioned over a snatching incident.
The shooting came less than 24 hours after robbery suspect Rodulfo “Dupong” Atega Jr., 21, was gunned down at the corner of Gen. Maxilom Ave. and D. Jakosalem St. a few minutes after leaving detention.
Atega was one of the members of the Casimero “Meloy” Garcia Robbery Group.
Last July 24, robbery suspect Brando Babao, 41, of Barangay Valladolid, Carcar City, was killed less than an hour after posting bail for an illegal possession of firearms case. (JST)
