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Monday, January 12, 2004
Cops, not mayor, must solve killings: ex-dad
By Raquel C. Bagnol
DAVAO CITY -- Former Davao City councilor Wendell Avisado said on Sunday the City Mayor's Office is not playing deaf and dumb to the rising number of victims of vigilante killings, but insisted the responsibility of solving crimes falls on the police.
Avisado reacted to accusations that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte lacks political will to comprehensively address the problems.
"Wala man nagpakabuta ug bungol ang mayor's office, pero dili man gud ni trabaho sa mayor mangita sa mga criminals kay ang Philippine National Police (PNP) ang gitahasan nga moimbestiga aning mga pamatay diri," Avisado said. (It's the PNP and not the mayor who is tasked to investigate and solve the killings.)
Avisado assured residents there are no state-sponsored killings, and that "the mayor must not be blamed for the failure of the PNP to solve the killings."
He said they have urged police to stop "summary executions" of theft and drug suspects.
"The police cannot do anything if the populace will not help us. We need information. We had arrested suspects in the past but no one will act as a witness so we cannot file the case in court," Davao City Police Office (DCPO) chief Conrado Laza earlier told the media.
From January to December last year, 91 persons were killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen believed to be members of the shadowy group Davao Death Squad (DDS).
This month, five more individuals were added to the growing list of vigilante killings. All the victims were reportedly involved in the illegal drugs trade and thievery.
On Saturday, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Southern Mindanao blamed Duterte for the series of summary executions in the city.
Bayan spokesman Jeppie Ramada attributed this to Duterte's "Dirty Harry" tactics in curbing criminality and in maintaining peace and order.
"While this manifests the debility of the Davao City Police Office and Task Force Davao, it consequently reflects Duterte's lack of political will to comprehensively address the problem on criminality," he said.
"As the year opens, there are indications that cases of summary executions will have an alarming increase this year," he said.
(January 12, 2004 issue)
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