IT MUST have been difficult for Chief Insp. Jose Gesto, former head of the Guadalupe Police Station. The situation he found himself in last week was almost akin to being caught between a rock and a hard place.
I mean, what else was he supposed to do?
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Noli Taliño had directed police stations to catch five drug personalities a day.
But Gesto had already caught most of the deadbeats in his jurisdiction, which covers the barangays of Guadalupe, Sapangdaku and Kalunasan, since Police Station 9 intensified its campaign against illegal drugs. Or so he claimed.
Who else was he going to arrest?
Firstly, I'd like to commend Gesto and his men for their diligence in getting rid of the menaces of society in the three barangays.
Trust me, it was no mean feat. Guadalupe happens to be Cebu City's largest barangay in terms of area.
That was why I couldn't help but feel dubious.
Really? Barangays Guadalupe, Sapangdaku and Kalunasan virtually drug-free? Oh, he must have meant the drug pushers, the runners and their lookouts. But come on, he couldn't have placed all of them behind bars during his time in office.
With that said, I salute Gesto for not resorting to any “funny business” just so he could meet his quota. It would have been so easy for him to doctor charges against known drug personalities in the three barangays and apprehend them under dubious circumstances.
After all, many had surrendered during Oplan Tokhang and underwent profiling. He could have easily taken his pick among the “reformed.”
But Gesto didn't.
So it was with much dismay that the police official accepted his reassignment order, which was recommended by Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria and approved by Taliño.
Gesto now heads the Warrant and Subpoena Section (WSS) of the CCPO.
Hey, at least there's an upside to the development.
If we go by his track record at the Guadalupe Police Station, persons who have pending arrest warrants should start looking over their shoulders. Back in April, there were as many as 742 warrants in Cebu City that had yet to be served. Expect that number to drop, drastically, in the coming months with Gesto at the helm of WSS.
That is, if everything he said about getting rid of almost all of the drug personalities in the areas covered by Police Station 9 was true.
By the way, Gesto's wasn't the only “head” to get the ax for failing to meet Taliño's directive.
Chief Insp. Porferio Gabuya was also replaced at the Talamban Police Station. I don't know about his excuse, but with his relief, it's quite apparent that the rampant illegal drug trade in the barangay continues.
Gabuya is still waiting for his new assignment, but he may be joining the Investigation and Detective Management Branch.
Talamban was one of eight police stations that were under scrutiny last year for allegedly failing to implement enough anti-drug operations in their areas of responsibilities.