WHEN Cebu City residents take precautions about their safety, it is because they do not feel safe in their city or they deem it wise to be careful these days.
“Just in case” or “to be sure” are what people say about actions they feel they have to take to feel safer, bolster security, in these times when drug killings happen on a disturbingly regular basis and vendetta deaths are a reality with the obtainability of hired killers.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Cebu City Police Director Royina Garma differ in their answer to the question, “Is Cebu safe?” Osmeña said no because of the series of killings that have reached an alarming number and frequency. The Catholic Church hierarchy in Cebu also ordered an oratio imperata or obligatory prayer after every mass for deliverance from criminality. Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma called for a stop to the killing of drug suspects. For drug addicts, Palma asked the police to give them a chance to recover. Drug addicts, he said, should have a chance at renewal.
Garma, and Central Visayas Police Director Debold Sinas, think Cebu is still safe, especially if compared to places in Mindanao, and said only the drug traders and sellers should feel not safe because the police are after them.
The best judge of whether Cebu is safe or not are the residents. Not the police or the mayor. All the police and the civilian leadership can do is to make their own pronouncements that Cebu is safe or not safe. The decision that Cebu is one or the other depends on the ones living in it.
I know of local residents who have taken precautionary measures because of the series of killings in Cebu; and they have shared these precautions with family and friends for them to do the same. These precautions include:
- Get their cars heavily tinted because of incidents involving shooting the victim while inside the car. Although their cars have light tints, the owners decided to change them to a darker or darkest shade. Better not to be seen from outside.
-- Never lose your temper with a policeman or a guard, especially when they have a gun. There is always the danger of one legally authorized to possess a gun but thinking, with the culture of impunity, that he can kill an enemy and get away with it. To this person, it might be easier to shoot an adversary than choose the better option of dialog.
-- They leave. Not only high-profile suspects in the drug trade in Cebu go in hiding or escape to another country. Families of victims, too, give up hope of ever finding justice and leave.
These are actions taken in advance to protect Cebu residents from the possible danger of being targeted for alleged illegal drug involvement or mistaken identity or a misunderstanding with a mall guard.
It is foolish to say Cebu is safe when killings happen almost daily and residents are taking precautions. Just in case and to be sure.