BACK in the ‘80s, when I was in high school, there were talks that Metro Cebu was a safe haven for communist rebels. That they could come here, leave all their cares away and pretend to lead a normal life.
There was even a joke that Cebu was their favorite place for R & R (rest and recuperation). Here, they could let their hair down. Go shopping. Hang out with family and friends. Catch the latest bold flick downtown. You know, stuff that normal people would do.
I don’t know if any of that were true. If it were, they must have gone out of their way to be really inconspicuous. You know, not catch any attention.
Imagine what it must have been like for them. Constantly making sure they weren’t being followed as they walked the city streets. Always on the lookout for danger. For enemies.
Imagine the lies they told their families and friends who wondered where they had gone to, unaware of the pain they had suffered, unaware of the suffering they, too, had inflicted.
But yes. There might have been a time when Metro Cebu was an “open city” along with the caveat that the rebels stayed out of trouble.
After all, they were here to take a break from the fighting. Or they were here to discuss who or what to target next. Either way, they were here.
I’m bringing this all up after I read that several members of the Parojinog robbery-drug group had fled Ozamiz City in northern Mindanao and are now living in our midst.
According to Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) Director Julian Entoma, no fewer than 20 of them have been calling Mandaue City their home since last month. I’m not sure if the number included the three who were killed in separate operations last Friday, April 5, but, trust me, no fewer than 20 is a lot, especially when you take into account that many of them reportedly have warrants of arrest or have been or continue to be involved in illegal activities.
No wonder local authorities are rattled. And I don’t mean to insult our men and women in blue, but the knowledge that suspected known criminals have sought refuge in our metro must worry them.
After all, why else would the MCPO director warn establishments like banks and pawnshops in the city to beef up their security?
However, these people may really be just trying to get out of harm’s way.
After all, their leader, Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., was killed along with his wife and 14 others during a police raid in 2017. Last year, President Duterte even threatened to finish off the Parojinog clan.
As one clan member whom the MCPO arrested last Friday put it, not all Parojinogs are criminals.