Friday, August 15, 2008 Seares: Tomas was armed, so what? By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has legal right to own and carry a gun or guns like everyone else who qualifies and meets the law's requirements.
In the U.S.--where the mayor sought sanctuary during martial law and must have learned American passion for guns--the right to bear arms is constitutionally guaranteed.
Not in our country, where the citizen must prove he deserves to own and carry a gun before he's given license and permit.
Stringent rules, however, haven't stopped firearms, legal or not, from being used in violent crimes.
Of course, the mayor can own and carry guns. He has power and wealth to set up a decent personal armory. ALU-TUCP, which has mounted a strike against a department store chain, isn't heated up over that.
It's about Tomas using firearms to try breaking up the labor union's picket. ALU-TUCP alleges he brandished a handgun and cocked a shotgun at the protesters.
Playing cop
The mayor was there to enforce the law as the strike was "illegal" and strikers blocked entry and exit, which the mayor says was also illegal. It looked like the police regulars and Swat sharpshooters weren't enough.
Under the rules, law enforcers are kept at a distance from picket line. But gun-packing Tomas was up close, pushing and driving protesters away.
Here's the rub: He's not a cop, so the rules protecting a picket don't apply to him. He's only playing "polis-polis," so he can do what police officers cannot do by law or rule. Or so the mayor's logic runs.
One can see why ALU-TUCP's Democrito Mendoza is seeing red. In his multi-storied life, "Katsila" hasn't tangled before with a Rambo like Tomas.
