SINCE when has a police blotter been used to relay the message about a police officer’s accusation and maybe cry for help?
Not in recent history of cops squealing on their superior officers.
PO2 Ryan Casiban last Aug. 10 called his police chief in Cordova, Cebu that another cop was after him. He also wrote on the police blotter, which he then controlled as desk officer, that two police generals whom he named were involved in drug trafficking.
The police blotter might have looked the safest document to write his accusation. The blotter is a document that’s not easily lost and no cop tears off its page without being soon found out and held accountable.
But Casiban didn’t say what evidence he had and where he had stashed it. That was what his accusation lacked.However, it could lead to other evidence that may clinch the case.
Reporters’ quip about the blotter being an unreliable source may not be true this time. Since Casiban was found dead two days after he left his post, the blotter entry could be some kind of dying declaration of the cop.
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Dancing, goons-for-hire eclipsed in 2 Cebu jails
The Cebu Provincial Jail’s “dancing inmates” show has been known internationally as novel method of rehabilitation.
Most of the public then didn’t know that the jail was into the drug trade, which, one can assume, couldn’t have gone on without the help or knowledge of the inmates.
The development would make interesting footnote in news stories and references in such books as Guinness World Records about the dancing inmates.
As to the Cebu City Jail, the old lucrative source of income -- hiring prisoners for out-of-jail robbery or murder contracts -- seems to have been obscured by the definitely more profitable drug trade.
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Napolcom required to consult legislators
Napolcom’s explanation why its regional office inquiry about Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s withdrawal of support to the police didn’t include consultation as required by law and regulation was as lame as it could be.
“To avoid politicizing the investigation,” a Napolcom official said. Authors of the law require the consultation with elected representatives of the people, precisely to respect the political context. But Napolcom didn’t consult Reps. Raul del Mar and Bebot Abellanosa, the political leaders concerned. Even if Napolcom would reject their views, that would not do away with the requirement.
Consultation was mandatory, not discretionary.
[bzzzzz@sunstar.com.ph or paseares@gmail.com]