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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Editorial: Did the councilor cry, 'Wolf'?
'Whether the expose is based on solid grounds and heads will roll, or is another of those grandstanding stunts some politicians are addicted to, remains to be seen.'
THE recent expose on an alleged protection racket involving certain members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Region 11, far from being dismissed as a dud by doubting Thomases, has been given another dimension with the entry of the CIDG directorial staff chief and the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao into the picture.
Sr. Supt. Josefino Cataluña, chief of the CIDG directorial staff, has ordered Supt. Jose Pante, CIDG Davao Region director, to submit a report on the charge aired by Councilor Amilbangsa Manding on the floor of the City Council that some CIDG personnel--reportedly including Pante himself--had been protecting vendors of pirated compact discs (CD) and video compact discs (VCD) in exchange for money.
On the other hand, Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao Antonio Valenzuela has reportedly said that his office is also conducting its own investigation into the matter after consultation with the Office of the Ombudsman for the Military. Valenzuela has in his possession affidavits of four of Manding's witnesses who claimed that they and other vendors had been paying monthly "tong" to some CIDG cops for protection.
With the entry of Valenzuela and the show of concern by CIDG Chief Supt. Josefino Cataluña into the hot issue of "kotong" cops, the public now expects the issue to come to a head.
Whether the expose is based on solid grounds and heads will roll, or is another of those grandstanding stunts some politicians are addicted to, remains to be seen.
We do know one thing. It won't take our minds off the raging debate on this country's fiscal crisis.
(September 21, 2004 issue)
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