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Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Cebu mayor to Lapu cops: Sorry for 'intrusion'
CEBU CITY -- Mayor Tomas Osmeña apologized to Lapu-Lapu City Police Chief Louie Oppus after Cebu City policemen arrested a suspected drug pusher in Lapu-Lapu City even if it was already outside their jurisdiction.
As the mayor warned the Cebu City police from making the same mistake, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 issued a memorandum ordering all Philippine National Police (PNP) forces to observe inter-unit coordination, especially in hot pursuit and drug operations, to prevent a mis-encounter among fellow policemen.
PRO 7 Chief Eduardo Gador issued the reminder after he met with the three police chiefs--Superintendents Vicente Loot of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), Melvin Gayotin of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and Oppus--in a conference at Camp Sergio Osmeña Monday.
Loot, for his part, considered the incident resolved, adding that the failure of CCPO's special unit to coordinate with them was a minor lapse.
No action
Osmeña said no disciplinary action will be imposed on the Cebu City policemen even if they operated outside their jurisdiction. But he warned them against committing the same mistake of not coordinating with the local police.
This was echoed by CCPO Director Gayotin, who said Gador was satisfied with the explanation of Insp. George Ylanan, chief of the Vice Control Section (VCS), on the incident.
Ylanan was ordered to report to Regional Chief of Staff Lani-o Nerez's office Monday to shed light on the controversy that stemmed from a buy-bust against three residents of Lapu-Lapu City, who were allegedly engaged in selling drugs in Villagonzalo, Tejero, Cebu City.
Ylanan, however, declined to comment on what transpired during their meeting and advised reporters to get the information from Nerez.
Ylanan led the VCS team that arrested and shot Nilo Patalinghug in Sitio Sangi, Barangay Pajo in Lapu-Lapu City last Good Friday. Also taken into custody were suspected drug pushers Adrian Garcia Ramas, 38, and Galileo Oyoa Bot-oy, 40.
Osmeña admitted that it is against standard operating procedures to operate in a locality without the knowledge of the police there.
"I apologize to Superintendent (Louie) Oppus for what happened. Whatever the CCPO operatives were doing there (in Lapu-Lapu), the burden of proof should be on CCPO because they were the ones there. They should prove something and not just ask for the benefit of the doubt," Osmeña said.
Turf war
After hearing about the reported "turf war", the mayor told Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau Chief Paul Labra to keep CCPO policemen from operating outside the city, especially if they're not in uniform as this could lead to a mistaken encounter.
Since no one from the VCS was hurt during the supposed hot pursuit operation, the operatives will not be sanctioned.
"I don't do disciplinary action on somebody who overstepped his initiative. I'd rather impose it on somebody who has no initiative at all, that is worse. I prefer overreacting than no reaction. Just don't do it again," he said of the policemen.
Oppus had raised the concern that the VCS failed to coordinate with them before conducting the buy-bust and that they only learned of the incident after someone called their station to inform them of a shooting incident.
"No hard feelings. Our only concern was the consequence. What if the Swat (Special Weapons and Tactics) team had not been able to identify the officers of the CCPO? When they are called to respond, they always assume that the person involved is armed and dangerous," Loot said.
Loot also considered the factors that led to the incident, acknowledging that the dealer kept on changing the venue. The VCS operatives were probably "overeager" to nail him that they forgot about the protocol when it came to operating outside their area.
As a result of the meeting, the police officers resolved to know the contact numbers of each counterpart so that prior coordination can be made in future operations and surveillance.
Earlier, Nerez said a simple telephone call would do, if personal coordination about an operation proved too difficult.
Loot reiterated that they were not questioning the unit's conduct of operations in their jurisdiction.
He pointed out that Patalinghug was even in their list of suspected drug pushers who also operated in and outside of Lapu-Lapu City. (LCR/MEA/GC/JST)
(March 29, 2005 issue)
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