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Thursday, December 04, 2003
Korean tagged in compatriots' ambush slay
* NBI zeroes in on Korean national as suspect in Saturday night killing of fellow Korean nationals Cho Yoon Sik and Kim Shuk Shin, both restaurant owners, in Lapu-Lapu City
* Suspect was released from Bureau of Immigration (BI) jail in Mandaue City two days before Nov. 29 ambush
* Victim Cho had filed complaint against suspect, who was eventually jailed at BI
* Cebu Gov. Pablo Garcia offers to host summit meeting for tourism industry stakeholders to thresh out problems
* Cebu City Council majority agrees to urge law enforcement agencies to solve speedily crimes involving tourists and foreigners
CEBU CITY -- The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 has zeroed in on another Korean national as a possible suspect in the Nov. 29 twin killings of Korean traders in Lapu-Lapu City.
The bureau's investigating team learned that the Korean national was released from the jail of the Bureau of Immigration in Mandaue City, two days before the killing of Cho Yoon Sik and Kim Suk Shin, owners of a restaurant in Barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City.
An American detained along with that Korean reportedly told the NBI 7 that the Korean vowed to get even with Cho, who he believed was responsible for the detention.
As investigators tried to solve last Sunday's attacks, local officials in Cebu fought to cope with its repercussions on tourism.
Gov. Pablo Garcia offered to host a summit for operators of hotels, restaurants and tour companies and other stakeholders of Lapu-Lapu City's tourism, to thresh out several problems that are plaguing the industry.
Although he finds it a big headache, Cebu City Mayor Tomas
Osmeņa could not blame the Korean Government if it issues a travel ban on Cebu.
"I wish I could lie about it. It's very damaging," he said.
The mayor added that fighting the travel ban is not the way to solve the problem. It's best to solve the crime.
Majority of the Cebu City Council Wednesday urged law enforcement agencies to solve quickly those crimes involving tourists and foreigners.
The City Council, on a motion of Councilor Arsenio Pacaņa, also urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to appeal to the Korean Government about an impending travel advisory.
Eyewitness
The NBI 7 has received a report that the Koreans in Cebu have two factions.
NBI 7 Executive Officer Nelson Bartolome, who leads the probe team, said the Korean potential suspect, whom he refused to identify, met American Daniel Boucher, who was also detained at the immigration bureau.
Sun.Star Cebu tried but failed to contact Boucher as of press time Wednesday.
Cho allegedly filed a complaint against his fellow Korean over unsettled money matters.
But Bartolome said that they still have to check Boucher's statement.
The NBI asked immigration to provide copies of Cho's complaint and other documents on the background of the Korean who was detained by the bureau.
Bartolome said they are also persuading an eyewitness, who was reportedly near the ambush site, to shed light on the killing.
The NBI 7 investigated the murder case upon the request of the widows of the two Koreans and the Cebu Korean Tourism Association of Cebu headed by Kevin Kim.
Bohol better
Over 26,000 Koreans came to Cebu in 2002, or close to 20 percent of total foreign tourist arrivals.
The governor offered the Capitol social hall to officers of the Cebu Association of Tour Operators (Cato) and the Cebu Visitors' Convention Bureau, who visited his office Wednesday to inform him about the Visayas Travel and Tour Fair next year.
Unless concerns about the industry are threshed out, in the light of the killing of two South Koreans last Saturday night, Garcia said the first Asia Pacific Islands Travel Mart being planned for January will "amount to nothing."
Although some local tour operators do not seem to be keen on taking a stand on the incident because South Korean tourists apparently only contract the services of fellow South Koreans, the governor advised them to "show grave concern and ask for the local government's response."
"Whether or not it was a Filipino or a Korean who committed the crime, whether they only stick with other Koreans, since it happened here, it is our concern," he said in his news conference.
He further said that stakeholders of Cebu's tourism industry should consider that in Bohol, which is currently being strongly marketed, "we never hear of such violent incidents and drivers of taxis and vans for hire are very friendly."
Garcia noted the reports of the proliferation of such illegal activities in Lapu-Lapu as the hupo-hupo and sagiki.
"The state of lawlessness in Lapu-Lapu is a matter of grave concern," he said.
`Inhospitable'
The governor pointed out that there is "no police visibility" in the eastern component city at night.
The Task Force Turista of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 is no help either because it is "moribund."
Hours later, the Cebu City Council urged the Task Force Turista "to boost the safety" of tourists in Cebu and "protect them from unfriendly and inhospitable practices of some illegitimate tour guides."
Councilors Gerardo Carillo and Manuel Legaspi, both lawyers, presented their reservations against Pacaņa's resolution, although they did not object to its passage.
Carillo said the murder is a "simple crime" that should not be "bloated" as to affect the peace and order image of Cebu.
"What is the difference if Filipinos are murdered? Why should we make a howl? I don't think we should elevate this kind of issue to a level like this," he said.
Legaspi, for his part, said the matter does not "merit" a privilege speech and a mere resolution would have been enough.
"It's not as if the world is ending," he also said.
Opposition Councilor Vicente Kintanar Jr., however, agreed with Pacaņa, who chairs the committee on tourism, that the incident has "put a dent" in the tourism industry.
"He feels obliged to say something. He is just trying to do his duty," he said. GC/KMF/CYR/GAC
(December 4, 2003 issue)
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