CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has appealed to the judges in the city to consider several observations in the evaluation of the requests for the issuance of search warrants.
In an undated advisory memorandum he signed, Osmeña said that reports on several incidents involving the “irregularities in the enforcement of search warrants” have been brought to his attention.
Law enforcers ignored procedures when they served the search warrants, as validated by video footage and witnesses, Osmeña said.
“We have also noticed that since most, if not all, of the search warrants were with a person who would plant the item (e.g. gun, ammunition etc.), that would clearly relate to the application of the warrant were tainted by fraudulent and fabricated evidence through planting of evidences or objects of the search. With the intention to harass our political supporters,” Osmeña said in his advisory memorandum.
In a Facebook post, Osmeña also challenged Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella to explain an incident where masked men riding 10 motorcycles without license plates went to the mountain barangays of Sinsin and Bonbon and pulled out their campaign materials last Sunday, April 14.
Labella and Osmeña are both running for mayor come May 13.
“And since you keep defending the police, the same police who put unmarked ‘checkpoints’ outside the captain’s houses in Agsungot and Bonbon and knock on their doors at 1 a.m. asking to ‘take a picture,’ why weren’t the police ‘checkpoints’ able to stop 10 unlicensed motorcycles ridden by masked men from going around these barangays? Maybe because the police are protecting these men? Or could it be that the police are these men?” the mayor wrote.
In response, Labella said that rather than throwing allegations against him, Osmeña should focus on real issues like livelihood and other development in the mountain villages.
“The people in Cebu City know who among the politicians are capable of making terroristic acts and intimidating tactics. Mr. Osmeña’s conflict with the police is his own doing. Be a man and do not mislead the Cebuanos. Let’s talk about what government should do to help the people in the mountains instead of focusing on the petty war of the posters. It’s a waste of the public’s time,” he said.
Meanwhile, at the police front, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Chief P/Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas ignored Osmeña’s accusation against the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) personnel, who the mayor said had failed to implement the election gun ban that resulted in several shootings.
Sinas said he will not engage in a word war with Osmeña lest his statement be used by candidates for their political gain.
Osmeña complained on his Facebook page against motorcycle drivers who removed his campaign posters. He believed the police were the perpetrators.
The incident happened in three mountain barangays and the mayor obtained videos captured by closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Talamban Police Station Chief Elizandro Quijano said he has no knowledge about the mayor’s allegations and he received no complaints.
Quijano said he is cautious as they might be used in political propaganda. (With AYB of SuperBalita Cebu, KAL)