EDITORIAL - Castro’s killing a big blow to heightened security

In the latest shocking incident gripping Cebuanos, former Cebu City assistant prosecutor Mary Ann Castro was shot and killed while she was driving her car while negotiating a busy stretch of Escario Street in Cebu City Thursday night.

Castro came from a shopping mall driving her way to the Capitol area when unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle appeared from behind and fired several shots at her. The controversial prosecutor, who was fatally hit in the neck, was killed on the spot.

Police authorities are now looking into several angles behind her murder, which happened just a few days into the implementation of the gun ban. Among the possible motives they are zeroing in on are personal grudge and Castro’s long years of work as a prosecutor.

The prosecutor’s killing was not only a big blow to the authorities’ security preparations as the city gears up for the annual Fiesta Señor celebrations on Sunday. With Cebu City’s deteriorating peace and order image, it sadly reinforces Cebu’s newly acquired reputation as the country’s murder capital.

Yes, the authorities have been heightening the city’s security in line with the fiesta celebrations. However, Castro’s murder only leads many to question whether or not the tight police security around the city nowadays is enough to guarantee their safety.

Police have to admit that their security implementation is not really enough. The fact that the prosecutor’s murder happened along one of the city’s busiest streets and during rush hour only tells us that something is seriously wrong with the way the security plan is being executed.

That is because if police visibility was strengthened around the city’s busiest areas, Castro’s killing could have been prevented as her perpetrators would have to seriously think about executing their mission seeing patrolling authorities.

Whatever the motive, Castro’s murder has put to the test the authorities’ security blanket for the fiesta. It also dealt a big blow to the gun ban that the Commission on Elections and the police are implementing as the country braces for the mid-term elections in May.