CEBU is no longer safe.
This is the sentiment shared by many Cebuanos—from Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma to Cebu City officials and the netizens.
A netizen noted on SunStar Cebu’s Facebook page that even if one is not into prohibited drugs, it’s not a safe place for people, especially at night. A call center agent asked for police visibility in Cebu City, while another lamented that the police didn’t need to kill drug suspects—they could be arrested.
“Isn’t it ironic? Are we safe?” asked Councilor Margarita Osmeña. “If there’s a clamor already coming from the public... I don’t want to ano on the police because I’m not in a position to do that, but I think everybody should listen.”
Cebu’s worsening peace and order situation is actually the only thing that administration and opposition Cebu City officials actually agree on.
“It bothers me because this is no longer right. This is not normal,” said opposition Councilor Joel Garganera, the head of the Police Advisory Council. “We can always make accusations, but to me, let us leave the investigation to the authorities.”
“Sixteen (dead) in 17 hours in Metro Cebu,” Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa (Cebu City, south district) said. “And how many tomorrow? How many next week? Are we going to kill everybody?”
The congressman said the police should look into the matter and consider how the people are reacting to it.
“Even if this is in relation to the war on drugs, I don’t think this is the way it should be done. What if it happens to your relatives?” he added.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, deputy mayor for police matters, shared the sentiment, saying that while he supports the police’s anti-illegal drug campaign, operations should be “in order and according to law.”
Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. went as far as calling Cebu City a “criminal city.” Half of the recorded 16 deaths in 17 hours happened in Cebu City.
In five of those deaths, two victims survived and initially claimed that the police were behind the attempt on their lives.
But Police Regional Office 7 Director Debold Sinas belied the insinuation. He even visited survivors Antonio Belande and Sharmaine Poran at the hospital where they were treated for injuries sustained while they were running away from their assailants in Barangay Malubog, Cebu City last Thursday dawn.
Shot dead were Carl Cabahug, 26, of Barangay Lorega San Miguel; Leyster Abella, 26, of Barangay Calamba; Rolando Tayor, 29, of Barangay Labangon; Diorvan Sarijorjo; and Christopher Tangag of Barangay Mambaling.
Sinas told reporters that Belande and Poran are not blaming the police. They even asked for police protection.
But the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is already investigating the series of killings in Cebu, especially with the information that the police could be behind them.
In a Bombo Radyo interview, CHR 7 Director Arvin Odron said that a team already visited the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) where Belande and Poran are admitted to start the investigation. CHR automatically investigates incidents that involve law enforcers, including deaths in the police’s One-Time, Big-Time operations.
Unlike the CHR, the National Bureau of Investigation will only step in if requested.
CCMC administrator Kenneth Siasar said that when Belande and Poran arrived in the hospital, they were vocal about who were behind the attempt on their lives. But now that the police have been visiting them, they don’t talk about it anymore—maybe they are confused or they just don’t know who to trust.
The two will soon be referred to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center for stress debriefing.
Sinas believes that Poran knows the men who forced them to ride a white van. But she only believed that they were policemen because they were clad in an all-black uniform. The police already have initial information on which group is behind the incident.
“This is not the way we should project Cebu to other provinces,” Palma said yesterday.
He urged the faithful to continue praying the Oratio Imperata to end the killings.
Businessman Glenn Anthony Soco, though, disagreed that the spate of killings in Cebu is already alarming.
“As for information that was gathered, these (deaths) are drug-related incidents. There is no cause for alarm in the business (sector). I would think it’s isolated,” he said.
The police want to know where exactly Poran, Belande and the others were picked up so it can be traced by the closed circuit television camera.
Poran also admitted she uses illegal drugs, which prompted Sinas to advise Poran’s parents to have her rehabilitated.
The police will look into the background of the five people since the Scene of the Crime Operatives found 150 grams of shabu worth P1.7 million inside the vehicle. RTF, AYB, PAC, KAL, RVC & GMD