THE police should not be surprised that the charges for murder and frustrated murder that they filed against Barangay Tejero Councilor Jesielou Cadungong and his driver William Macaslang, Jr. were dismissed. As law enforcers, they ought to know better the difference between murder and homicide.
The panel of Cebu provincial prosecutors dismissed the charges for murder and frustrated murder that the police filed against Cadungog and Macaslang. However, Macaslang was charged with homicide, the complaint that the National of Bureau of Investigators (NBI) prepared and filed.
Macaslang admitted shooting to death PO3 Eugene Calumba allegedly in self-defense. Calumba, who was in plain clothes and said to be conducting surveillance in Tejero, was on board the motorcycle driven by Michael Banua, a police asset. Banua was injured.
Because Banua was carrying a gun, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is asking the police to produce his gun license and permit to carry a gun outside of residence. The mayor even asked why the police took an asset like Banua, who is not from Cebu.
Would the police do what Mayor Tomas requested? I believe the police should show transparency and for the public to keep its trust in the police. With so many issues against the police, whatever trust they gained in the past has undoubtedly waned.
But Mayor Tomas’s threat to charge police officials here if they fail to present Banua’s gun license and permit to carry is unconventional and would only widen the gap between him and the police, which should not have been the situation because the police and the local government officials are supposed to work together.
On the other hand, lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, counsel for the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) that filed the criminal cases against Cadungog and his driver, should not be surprised that the panel of prosecutors resolved the cases earlier than usual. Instead, we should praise them for the speedy resolution of the cases.
The police though will be filing a motion for reconsideration on the dismissal of the complainant against Cadungog, who they charged with murder together with his driver. Cadungog claimed he was not in his vehicle but was in the Barangay Hall when Calumba allegedly attempted to ambush his car driven by Macaslang.
Cadungog’s case became very prominent because Calumba was a cop and Mayor Tomas took the side of Cadungog, who is his political ally. He accused the police of a cover up. An exchange of unpleasant words between the mayor and PRO 7 Chief Debold Sinas ensued.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is also looking into Calumba’s death and the separate ambush-killing of PDEA agents Earl Rallos and Von Ryan Tecson and SPO1 Roderick Balili. CHR has still to release the results of the investigation.
Even with the filing of the homicide case against Macaslang, the issue between Mayor Tomas and the police officials here is not over and done with. It even worsened when Mayor Tomas questioned the mysterious death of SPO1 Balili who, according to General Sinas, figured in a gun accident inside a vehicle while in Pinamungahan doing surveillance work.
Will the police officials here and Mayor Tomas ever patch up their difference in opinion on the peace and order situation in Cebu City? If the situation between the police and Mayor Tomas remains volatile, then who would the public turn to and trust now?