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Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Laxity blamed for cops' death
By Mia E. Abellana
With Linette C. Ramos
CEBU CITY -- Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will ask a City Hall consultant to study existing systems and procedures of the city police in responding to alarms, which he blamed for operations that leave policemen dead or wounded.
He also pushed for the relief of Mobile Patrol Group (MPG) Chief Herman Lungayan, whom he described as a very lax commander, as a result of last Sunday's incident that resulted in the death of two Crime Suppression Unit (CSU) operatives.
"They (policemen) were lax. It was a domestic disturbance so they thought it was just a routine dropping by; the other one went out while the other one was relaxing. That's the initial findings," said Osmeña.
Despite his criticism of the incident, the mayor will give a posthumous reward of up to P300,000 each for police officers Armando Juegos and Oliver Jamboy, who were killed by vegetable vendor Prudencio Borres. Borres was also killed in the incident.
As of Monday morning, some P100,000 in financial assistance were donated by private individuals for the families of Juegos and Jamboy.
Osmeña will also assign a social worker to attend to the needs of both families.
Three dead
Borres clubbed Juegos with a piece of wood and later shot dead the policeman with his own .38 revolver. Jamboy shot Borres dead, but was also wounded in the neck.
Off-duty traffic enforcer Vaughn Arriola carried the two seriously wounded cops to the CSU patrol car and drove them to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
Juegos did not make it to the hospital while Jamboy was transferred to the Chong Hua Hospital.
Jamboy, who suffered four cardiac arrests, succumbed to his wounds at 12:10 a.m. Monday.
Vilma Inociano, Borres' sister-in-law, told reporters Monday that Juegos already saw Borres bring with him a thick piece of wood.
"The policeman even told him to drop what he bringing. But he was caught by surprise. Teodula (Borres' wife) told him to be careful, but he did not see (Borres) lift the piece of wood to strike him," Inociano said in Cebuano.
While the two were struggling, Inociano said Borres kept hitting Juegos with the piece of wood and then managed to grab the .38 revolver strapped to his leg.
Although there were reports that Borres was a former cadre of the New People's Army and once a member of the military's Special Action Forces, Inociano denied this.
Speculation emerged about his background because he seemed to know how to aim for a fatal wound and operated the firearm well.
But Inociano said Borres poked the gun close to the two cops, which was why both were seriously wounded.
Lesson
Osmeña, however, believes there was a possibility that the police force that responded to the alarm was not well led, which he blamed on Lungayan.
So, Osmeña said he will ask somebody from the Special Weapons and Tactics team to replace Lungayan. "Somebody who is interested in his job," he said.
Osmeña told reporters Monday that the incident should serve as a lesson to policemen not to take things for granted.
"If indeed there are lapses, we will conduct a study so the police can learn from this. It was a domestic problem so relax lang sila, that's not the kind of attitude we need. There's a tendency to take things for granted," he said.
When Sun.Star Cebu asked to comment on the mayor's statement, Lungayan said: "Nganong ako man (Why me)?"
He explained that effective Aug. 12, the CSU was no longer under him. The team now reports to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau.
Acting Cebu City Police Office Director Melvin Gayotin said that the CSU is under the CCPO Operations Branch; the MPG merely takes care of dispatching responding police teams.
But instead of dwelling on the mistakes of their fallen colleagues, Gayotin said they would rather learn from the incident.
"This is learning a lesson the hard way. We know now not to treat a trouble alarm as an ordinary alarm. They must always prepare," said Gayotin.
He said Juegos and Jamboy could not be blamed for being lax because they never experienced a protection alarm that escalated into a violent shootout.
He said that most people involved in trouble alarms would immediately behave when they see a police car.
"Na-unhan lang gyud sila (They just got hit first)," Gayotin said.
CSU trainer Bingen Mendezona said the public should not blame the two.
"They paid the ultimate price. I hope their death was not wasted. The police and the city can learn from this incident," he told reporters.
On Lungayan's relief, Gayotin said there has already been a plan even before the incident for the MPG chief to swap positions with Chief Inspector Arnel Banzon, head of the Carbon police station.
He reportedly informed them verbally last week yet and was only waiting for their formal orders.
Gayotin also said the mayor and City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. were very helpful that night.
He said Osmeña called the Chong Hua Hospital in advance to make sure Jamboy would immediately be operated on when he arrived from the VSMMC. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(August 30, 2005 issue)
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