Mayor Osmeña should settle problems with PNP

There is no doubt that the decision of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to cut funds to the police will result in dire consequences for his constituents. That decision was made when Cebu City practically cut off all the funds that support the operations of the PNP in Cebu City. So if there is a potential crime that may be happening in your barangay, chances are the PNP assigned in Cebu City cannot respond. For us who have licensed firearms, we just make sure that we are well-prepared for any eventuality. Unfortunately we cannot attend to the security needs of everyone, this is why they need the help of the PNP within their locality.

All this is happening to Cebu City because Cebu City Police Office Director, Senior Superintendent Royina Garma was being brutally frank when she was told Mayor Osmeña had accused the police of coddling hitmen or killers and blamed the police for the spate of killings in Cebu City, even to the point that the police provide security or protection for these “state sponsored killers.” When Mayor Osmeña said this in public, Garma retorted saying “prove it!”

Of course Mayor Osmeña could not prove it, least he be accused of knowing something that ought to have been reported to the police. The problem here is that Mayor Osmeña opens his mouth with the way he thinks about the police surrounding him. It is a fact that already so many people accuse Mayor Osmeña of using policemen like the late Senior Police Officer 1 Adonis Dumpit for his personal protection and perhaps killing certain unnamed enemies of the mayor. In short this is why Mayor Osmeña can easily accuse the PNP of being part of a vigilante group that eliminates its enemies with dispatch.

At this point, I urge Mayor Osmeña to reconsider his decision to cut the funds to the PNP just because he had a word war with Garma. We know Garma is not his personal choice, but I would like to believe that she is here as a professional police officer whose main job is to secure the security of the people of Cebu City regardless of what Mayor Osmeña thinks about the police.

If because Cebu City cut the funds of the police and crime goes on the rise, then we can only blame the police, who in turn can blame Cebu City for cutting those needed funds. Again, I earnestly hope that Mayor Osmeña and Garma can settle their differences before things get worse for Cebu City.

Meanwhile, we learned that the PNP Internal Affairs Service will conduct a lifestyle investigation on police officers with reported involvement in illegal activities. This came from IAS Inspector General Alfegar Triambulo who said that the agency has a complete operation plan to launch a lifestyle check on suspected scalawags within the police force.

The IAS has coordinated with other government agencies such as the Office of the Ombudsman, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Land Registration Authority to assist investigators.

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said that they are monitoring around 1,000 policemen who are allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

Triambulo said the lifestyle probe will cover the police officers’ activities in their present and previous assignments as well as their spouses and relatives.

Triambulo also pointed out that they have already dismissed more than 600 police officers for various offenses since he became head of  IAS in 2016. His office receives around 2,000 complaints a year. Despite these accomplishments, he lamented that there are still people within the PNP who are involved in nefarious activities.

Perhaps Garma has not informed Mayor Osmeña about what the IAS is doing. Sure there is no question that rogue cops do exist and thankfully we have the IAS that goes out of its way to handle the complaints people have about these rogue cops. This is why I would like to exhort Mayor Osmeña to immediately restore the funds Cebu City gives to the PNP. We would respect him more if he does this.

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