THERE is actually something unique in Senior Supt. Royina Garma that has been lost in the awkwardness of the circumstances surrounding her assumption as director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO). In better times, her being the first female Cebu City police chief would have been celebrated well. But she came in amidst the spate of killings in Cebu that Mayor Tomas Osmeña partly linked to the police.
I realized this uniqueness when I watched the page A6 photo of SunStar Cebu the other day showing the launching by the CCPO of the so-called bike cops. Leading the event was not the usual ramrod police officer in a uniform common to many police chiefs in the country but one wearing a skirt—though it was still a police uniform.
Garma was on leave when the incident involving Tejero Barangay Councilor Jessielou Cadungog and his driver William Macaslang Jr. happened. In that incident, Macaslang shot to death a policeman, PO3 Eugene Calumba, whom he accused of attempting to ambush him while he was driving Cadungog’s vehicle. Calumba was riding in tandem with a police asset, Michael Banua, at that time.
The incident has given rise to suspicions policemen are involved in the recent spate of killings in Cebu and has put a wedge in the relationship between Osmeña and Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Chief Debold Sinas and, to a certain extent, the relationship between the mayor and Garma. That ensured that the fact that the city has for the first time a woman police chief would be glossed over.
Much of what I know about about Garma comes from media reports. In a way, her reputation preceded her. She was said to be a former police station commander in Davao City and once headed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Central Visayas, But that does not say anything about her leadership style. However, she is soft-spoken in interviews with reporters and not brusque.
When Garma first assumed as CCPO chief (before she took her leave and before the Cadungog incident), she talked about bringing to Cebu the Davao experience. She didn’t elaborate, but for some Cebuanos that might have sparked worries considering that what many of us think of the Davao experience in terms of keeping the peace were the vigilante-style killings.
That may not have helped her case with Osmeña, who even recently claimed policemen who are also hitmen are being sent to Cebu. But in fairness to Garma, she seems bent on doing something good. I have seen the police conduct checkpoints in some areas in the city since she assumed her post. She is deploying the bicycle cops to places with narrow roads. Her campaign against illegal drugs will soon focus on Barangay Ermita.
But I reckon she can do more if her relationship with the mayor improves. That will happen in time. One thing going for Garma is that she has not been issuing statements critical of Osmeña even if the latter at times gets harsh in his comments of her. And only yesterday, City Councilor Dave Tumulak, the deputy mayor on police matters, opened the communication line with her.
I am, I believe (ehem!), a feminist. So I would like Cebu City’s first female police chief to succeed.