DUE to concerns over peace and order in the city, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has cancelled his trip abroad for what he said would be a minor surgery.
Osmeña, in a Facebook post, said he decided to postpone his trip to the United States since his surgery is not critical.
“Due to the recent assassination and attempted assassination of the PDEA 7 assistant director and the vice chairman of Opascor and former barangay captain of Tejero, (respectively), which caused unease to the Cebuanos, I have decided to postpone my medical trip to the US. It is not critical anyway, and my duty to reassure the Cebuanos in these uncertain times is more important,” he said.
Last Monday, Tejero Barangay Councilor Jessielou “Jing-Jing” Cadungog survived what he said was an attempt to kill him, but police had a different version of the incident, saying that it was Cadungog’s driver who killed a police officer.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Debold Sinas named Cadungog as the primary suspect in the death of PO3 Eugene Alcuin Calumba.
Calumba of the Parian Police Station was shot and killed after he allegedly tried to fire at Cadungog’s vehicle around 8 a.m. Monday in Villagonzalo 2, Cebu City.
“The survivor of an assassination attempt is now being declared as a suspect by the very police whose officer tried to kill him. Instead of being held as a suspect, the driver of the hitman is declared a protected witness,” Osmeña said.
Last July 27, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 assistant operations chief Earl Rallos was gunned down while he was on his way home by riding-in-tandem assassins near Escario St. in Cebu City.
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The mayor said there is “something that is not right” in the murder of Rallos and in the decision to treat Cadungog as a murder suspect even if he fired zero rounds at his alleged gunmen.
“I do not want to leave if the people of Cebu are living in fear. They are the top priority. So until we begin to find the answers that will put them at ease, I will remain in Cebu,” Osmeña said.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said, though, he still trusts the local police force despite suspicions that some of them are involved in unsolved crimes.
“I don’t want to speculate. They should be investigated first. I can’t draw any conclusion until there is proof that the police are involved,” he told reporters.
PDEA 7, meanwhile, will join the special investigation task group (SITG) that was formed to solve the fatal shooting of Rallos.
Sinas said he had a talk with PDEA 7 Director Emerson Margate last Tuesday and the latter promised to cooperate in the inquiry.
“We have compared notes but until now we do not know who are the suspects,” Sinas said.
Margate will assign PDEA personnel to participate in the SITG-Rallos, which Cebu City Police Office Director Royina Garma heads.
Sinas asked Margate to give him an idea why Rallos kept 56.9 grams of shabu in his car’s glove compartment. “That is important to us because that might lead to the suspects,” he said. (RVC, KAL, JKV)