Thursday, October 18, 2007 Editorials: Gang ‘preying’ on motorists
IT has been a while since rumors that tended to spark a scare among Cebuanos were spread around and actually achieved, even if only partially, their obvious intention.
A similar effort involving the supposed initiation rite of a notorious Cebu gang has surfaced recently, its spread aided by current advances in information technology.
The rumor, spread around through e-mails and text messages, tell of gang recruits told to drive around during initiation and shooting drivers who flash their lights at them.
That Cebu City police and even the Philippine National Police spokesperson issued statements shooting down the rumor attests to the seriousness of its effect.
The police had to snuff it out lest anxiety caused by it could turn into panic.
Deterrence
This reminds us of similar instances, like that in the ‘80s when a killing conjured tales of fraternity recruits being told to kill any person wearing white to test their resolve.
Interestingly, rumors like this usually come about in times when there seems to be a breakdown in law enforcement or when people’s faith in law enforcement turns shaky.
The late ‘70s and the ‘80s, for example, saw the increase in attacks by rebels on government forces, reaching its peak when so-called sparrow units operated in Cebu.
That gave the impression of the loss of any deterrence to the commission of crimes as attested by the failure of law enforcers to identify and jail the killers.
Worries
A similar situation seems to be in place especially in Cebu City with the unsolved vigilante-style deaths and other murders perpetrated by motorcycle-riding assassins.
Worse was the recent “drive-by killings,” which tended to show that the daring of the criminally minded is being boosted by the police’s inability to solve many crimes.
This is probably the reason why despite the police describing as “patently false” the rumor about a gang supposedly preying on motorists at night, the worries remain.
The police may not have known it but after that “drive-by killings” there is a growing feeling among some city residents that they are no longer as safe as before.
That feeling, though it may not have basis in fact, can only be assuaged if the police are able to, one, lower the crime rate and, two, improve its crime solving ability.
