“WHY do we take justice into our own hands?” This was the question Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma asked of the faithful during his homily on the occasion of the diocese-wide “Salamat, Padre” celebration organized by the Commission on the Laity Sunday at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. His question was in relation to the recent spate of unsolved killings in Cebu.
Palma said that a “culture of impunity” is felt now in Cebu after several killings that remained unsolved. He appealed to the authorities to address the problem seriously and restore the rule of law.
Cebu Daily News reported that at least 112 persons have been killed in shooting incidents in Cebu in a period of six months. It reported that 92 persons were gunned down by masked assailants on board motorcycles while the rest of the fatalities perished during police operations from February to August 2, 2018, or a total of 183 days.
The recent case was the alleged attempt on the life of Barangay Tejero Councilor Jessielou Cadungog by an assailant that turned out to be PO3 Eugene Calumba. He was shot dead by William Macaslang Jr., the driver/bodyguard of Cadungog. Calumba was the passenger of a motorcycle driven by Michael Banua.
“When the police said that it is safe, they’re lying. That’s what I’m saying a month ago. They’re trying to cover up something. It’s very hard when some of those in the police force is the enemy. But I’m not going to run away,” Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said after the alleged ambush of Cadungog.
Because of the mayor’s statements, ranking police officials of the region and the city police office reacted resulting in a verbal exchange. With this atmosphere, the investigation into the riding-in-tandem cases has been jeopardized. Not a single case was ever solved.
Section 51 of Republic Act 6975, or the Philippine National Police (PNP) law, the governors and mayors are the deputized representatives of the National Police Commission in their territorial jurisdiction.
Most of the police cars in the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) were provided by the city government, so too funds for their maintenance and repair. Earlier, Mayor Tomas promised to continue supporting the CCPO under Royina Garma. Recently, however, he said the City will no longer shoulder the cost of the maintenance or repair of some 90 city-owned police cars.
The mayor’s decision was the consequence of his criticisms of the CCPO and the police regional office because of the series of killings in the city and the province as well as their handling of the case of Cadungog, whom the police charged together with his driver with murder for the death of Calumba.
To recall, the deputation of Osmeña was recalled when he complained that his favored police chief was replaced without his consent. He then ordered the recall of the city-owned police vehicles. Would this happen again?
Be that as it may, I think it is time that the Cebu City police chief and the regional police office chief should listen to the plea of Archbishop Palma to solve the problem and restore peace and order in Cebu. That more people chose to live here than other places does not mean the unsolved killings should just be left as it were.