Kudos to the Cebu City Police!

Call it a lucky break for our hard-pressed Philippine National Police (PNP) that they were able to apprehend four men who robbed a woman of her P6 million worth in diamond jewelry who fortunately or unfortunately got stuck in traffic so close to the Punta Princesa Police Station. Station Chief Gilberto Abellar Sr. immediately led his men on a very short, quick foot chase and captured the robbers who fled their vehicle.

I say that this was a lucky break because it is the first time I have heard of a robbery in progress that was foiled by the quick reaction of responding policemen. Kudos to Cebu City Police Director Patrocino Comendador because this arrest could also lead them to other possible heist that this rob group may have done in the past.

From what we gathered in the news reports, this group apparently brought their own vehicle from Ozamiz City that they used to commit their crime. Now if only the police knew this information, this robbery could have been foiled from the start. Hence, allow me to reiterate once more that if the PNP only used their Intelligence funds in the right way, robbery groups can easily be spotted, especially if you spent that money to put a mole inside their organization. This is being done by all police forces worldwide. It works all the time. With the accessibility of Roll-Off, Roll-On (RoRo) vessels, it seems that the police stumbled upon a new strategy of robbers to use their own vehicles rather than rent a vehicle in a place they are targeting.

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With the political kettle already boiling hot in Cebu City, I’m just a bit surprised that there seems to be a lull in Lapu-Lapu City. It’s very quiet there. Because of this, I checked around to find out what really is happening in the mayoralty derby in Lapu-Lapu City. The last time we wrote about the political race for the mayorship, it was Mrs. Paz Radaza versus Mactan Business Chamber President Efrain Pelaez Jr.

But then, suddenly I heard that many others are running. For instance, a Mr. Rolando Patalingjug is running for mayor in the coming polls. Who is this fellow? I heard he is a nephew of the late Mayor Max Patalingjug. But given the fact that even Norma Patalingjug has joined forces with the Radaza camp, it just makes me wonder, why is another Patalingjug suddenly running for the top post? If Norma cannot even beat the Radazas, how in heaven’s name can Rolando Patalingjug win against Paz Radaza?

But wait, there’s more! I also found out that first Councilor Ahong Chan also wants to run for mayor of Lapu-Lapu City? Come now, is this true? My insiders told me that Ahong Chan is, for all intents and purposes, the right arm of Mayor Arturo “Boy” Radaza. So how could he turn his back against his master? Indeed, politics does strange things to people.

I do recall that Ahong Chan came out strongly with a statement against the Radazas after the collapse of the Rural Bank of Subangdaku (RBS). However, he has been very quiet since, despite the fact that Mrs. Radaza still has to issue that statement she promised to the irate depositors of RBS to tell all why this rural bank owned by the Gaisanos collapsed? So the question I’d like to pose is, whether Ahong is running for himself or is he running as a spoiler?

Then there’s my good friend, Lito Ruiz, husband of Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz. I talked with Lito a couple of months back and told him quite bluntly that if his wife Inday Nerry would be running for Mayor of Mandaue, it is next to impossible for her husband to be running for Mayor of Lapu-Lapu because of domicile issues, which could complicate his candidacy. Not even the Osmeñas nor the Cuencos tried this stunt at the height of their political control of Cebu!

Lito knows too well that he could never consider himself as a resident of Lapu-Lapu City. I consider Lito a good friend, which is why I told him why he would lose if he runs for Mayor of Lapu-Lapu City. At the end of the day, the real opposition to Paz Radaza is still businessman Efrain Pelaez Jr. So the nagging question that needs to be answered is, whether he has a chance to win this mayoralty race?

My take on this is, if it were a one-on-one fight between Paz Radaza and Jun Pelaez, he has a strong chance of grabbing the mayor’s seat. But if a Patalingjug or an Ahong Chan runs, then Paz Radaza will win this race hands down! Do we need to remind the opposition about that old adage, united we stand divided we fall? If the opposition doesn’t unite, then they might as well keep their money and save it. Finally, I also would like to know where does my other good friend, former councilor Eugene Espedido belong?

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