“OVERREACTING” was how Cebu City opposition Councilor and Police Advisory Council chairman Joel Garganera described Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s offer to add P50,000 to President Rodrigo Duterte’s P5-million bounty for any “ninja cop” or rogue policeman killed.Osmeña, though, is unfazed by the comment.
“The mayor is very OA trying hard to be PRRD’s second-grade copycat. The two have different terms of reference when we talk about rogue policemen,” Garganera said in a text message yesterday. Last Friday, the President announced that he will raise to P5 million the bounty for a dead “ninja cop,” the term he uses to refer to a police officer linked to illegal drugs. He also urged police scalawags to turn themselves in to the authorities “within 48 hours,” or else, he would raise the bounty by P1 million a month.
But while Mayor Osmeña supports the President’s move against erring cops, Councilor Garganera believes that the two may not be on the same page. “Tommy considered Policemen (PO3 Eugene) Calumba and (SPO1 Roderick) Balili as rogue cops while the PNP (Philippine National Police) and PRD even accorded them full PNP honors in their funeral.
By the same token, the PNP and the NBI consider the late (SPO1 Adonis) Dumpit as rogue. So are we made to believe that he will offer P50,000 to those responsible for the demise of Dumpit?” Garganera asked. The mayor, for his part, brushed off the opposition councilor’s comment.
“Since when did Garganera become my psychiatrist? Can he even think straight?” he said in a text message. Before assuming office as mayor in 2016, Osmeña offered a P50,000 reward to the police for every drug lord, robber or any other criminal killed. He also formed a Hunters’ Team or crime suppression team during his previous term as mayor. (RTF)