Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Editorials: Luck not with Mandaue police chief
SEN. Panfilo Lacson once headed the now defunct Cebu Metropolitan District Command (Metrodiscom) when he was still a police officer and he made so good an account of himself he was declared adopted son of Cebu City by the City Government.
The Metrodiscom chief that followed him suffered in comparison and when a reporter asked him about it, he mentioned something about some police officials (like Lacson) being luckier than others.
Luck can, indeed, be a factor in crime prevention but it attaches mostly to the conscientious and creative cops and backs off from the slacker and unimaginative.
That’s why some police officials are luckier than the others.
Responsibility
Mandaue City Police Director Rodel Calungsod may not be very particular about luck in his effort to curb criminality in his turf but the complaint about the peace and order situation there could mean that his being conscientious and creative may be lacking.
In the end, his luck has run out with the flak he is getting for “passing the buck” to Mandaue City officials, with Mayor Jonas Cortes seeking his relief from his post.
Calungsod’s “passing the buck” statements may just have been taken out of context but the fact remains that maintaining the peace is primarily the job of the police and if statistics show a crime surge then the police chief must take responsibility
for it.
Still, there is something to be said about Calungsod’s candor.
Fresh start
While he may have lost the support of Mandaue City police officials because of it, there is no denying that the continuing political squabble between Cortes and the City Council led by Vice Mayor Carlo Pontico Fortuna can be considered as a distraction.
Support by local government officials and local chief executives not losing their focus on the task of supervising police work can spur the slackers in the police organization to act up or push those who are already doing good to do better.
That is one more argument favoring those calling on Cortes and the political opposition in the Council to tone down the politicking.
But that should not free Calungsod of the blame, and while Mandaue City officials may have been partly unfair to him, his relief will give the city police a fresh start and he himself will be given a chance to begin anew in his next assignment.
