Convene PCAC? Give names, Tom tells Labella

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has asked Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella to give him the names of officials who could form part of the erstwhile-defunct Police Coordinating and Advisory Council.

This, after Osmeña received a letter from Labella asking the mayor to convene the PCAC to help address some pressing issues at the Cebu City Jail, particularly on sanitation and health issues, among others.

“Let him (Labella) give his recommendations because he is not doing anything,” the mayor said.

Labella will be the chairman of PCAC, said Osmeña.

Labella is still out of the country and is scheduled to be back on Tuesday.

He earlier said that if the PCAC is reconvened, the city government can work with the national and local agencies in addressing issues on peace and order of the city.

“Together with the issues on sanitation, congestion, and lack of appropriate facilities to cater to the needs of inmates and jail officers, it is my humble opinion that the city government must continue to fulfill its commitment to assist in the work of our local penitentiary and correctional institutions to ensure the preservation of the general peace and order in the city,” Labella said in his letter to Osmeña.

Labella said PCAC was created through City Ordinance No.2389 or the Ordinance Amending Ordinance No. 2209 titled "An ordinance creating Cebu City Police Coordinating and Advisory Council in the Office of the Mayor.”

He earlier said that he would not mind if he will not sit as the chairman of the council for as long as it will be convened.

“With this, I would like to request that the office of the mayor convene the PCAC of the city to provide an avenue for all government agencies involved in our criminal justice system to discuss and harmonize all efforts in providing the necessary support for each individual pillar of the system to function,” he added.

PCAC is composed of local and national agencies such as Department of Interior and Local Government-7, National Police Commission-7, National Bureau of Investigation-7, Association of Barangay Councils, chairman on City Council’s committee on peace and order, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Department of Social Welfare and Development, City Prosecutor of the City of Cebu, and Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).

Osmeña, for his part, said the city’s jail’s health problem cannot be solved by PCAC.

“What can the NBI do about that, what can DSWD do about that? (Better monitoring?) Of course not,” he said.

Osmeña said Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos, deputy mayor on health, can address the health issues at the city jail.

Starting this week, de los Santos said all persons that will be committed at the City Jail are mandated to undergo X-ray tests for free with the funds from Department of Health.

She said X-ray tests and physical examinations will be made a protocol before committing an inmate into the facility for better profiling.  (FREEMAN)