Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Nalzaro: Bounty By Bobby Nalzaro Saksi
BOUNTY is a monetary reward given to anybody, whether a law enforcer, government agent or a civilian, who captures or kills a fugitive. A bounty hunter is a person who tracks down or hunts and captures fugitives from justice.
Many people think bounty hunting is part of the Wild West of old and has long since been banished from civilized society.
But government is still practicing it and sometimes it works. The capture and killing of leaders of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf was attributed to the multi-million-dollar bounty offered by the Philippine and US governments.
Giving bounty encourages people, even relatives and close associates of fugitives, to report their presence to authorities resulting in their arrest. Those being hunted usually have pending warrants.
But in Cebu City, it's different. Mayor Tomas Osmeña offered cash reward to policemen who arrest or kill robbers in a legitimate operation. Off-duty policemen who arrest a robber will get P20,000. Those who kill a robber will receive P50,000 per head. The mayor is hoping this will deter criminality, especially the activities of organized crime syndicates.
I understand the mayor’s hard fist policy against criminality. If the peace and order situation in the city worsens, he will get the flak and not the Commission on Human Rights. I am not saying the mayor is the “godfather” of vigilantism but it is public knowledge that he is supporting it. He even said that vigilantes are more effective than the death penalty.
But there are two schools of thought on his cash reward offer.
l It will encourage off-duty policeman to respond to any incident. You know the attitude of our law enforcers. They sometimes won’t react if they are not on duty. And even if on duty, they come to the crime scene late, or when robbers had already fled. Kun puwede pa motago, motago gyod.
l It will encourage some policemen to engage in summary execution. Even if they can arrest the suspect alive or paralyze him, they will just shoot him dead and claim a shootout. Why? To get the cash reward.
Still, let us give the mayor and our local police the support they need in the dealing with rising criminality in the city. He is the father of the city and I think he knows the best approach in curbing criminality. After all, whatever lapses and failures his policy may encounter along the way, he will be made answerable for these.
