Change in leadership
"Amiga" was the term he always used whenever we met inside the hallways of Camp Sergio Osmeña, AKA Police Regional Office 7. We didn't start at the right foot. There was a bad memory of Brigadier General Debold Sinas and me in a small squabble in Naga City during the landslide, where he wanted me out of ground zero when I was about to deliver a live report. I pleaded him to give me five more minutes. He adhered but threatened to handcuff me if I exceeded. Why on earth would a reporter be at fault for doing her job? I could only laugh at the memory now.
Today is his last weekend as director of PRO-7. As the week unfolds, he will become the director of the National Capital Region Police Office. This signals a change in leadership in the police force in Central Visayas, and maybe changes in the way we see things.
We remember that in the past 16 months, kilos and kilos of illegal drugs were recovered by the authorities. Which made me question, where did all this come from? Then we hear stories of individuals gunned down because of their involvement in illegal drugs. Who could also forget the supposedly ambush incident of former Tejero Barangay captain Jessylou Cadungog that resulted to the death of a policeman instead? There were many questions that were left unanswered, and if answered one way or another did not satisfy me in any matter.
Nobody likes change, and so am I. I am already accustomed to his antics and his stern remarks during his press conferences. It doesn't mean that I like the way he handled the police force during his time, as doubts still hound my conscience. Maybe it has already been a part of our system to see this person often inside the police camp.
Like any other individual, I have high hopes for who is next in line. We all want peace and order, and our terrorism problems to be fixed especially in other provinces. I hope it will be a different wind, something like we have never seen before. We also want some practices to be remained such as alert and snappy policemen, with complete uniform and a smile for the public to see.
We may feel conflicted at the change that the Philippine National Police is implementing especially with their high ranking officials. I know there are some policies that we don't agree on but sometimes we just have to trust that they will do their best in making sure that we are okay.
It is scary at the same time as changes will be implemented. We don't know the directives that will passed around down to the level of our cities and municipalities. But one thing I hope they will all adhere is the need to uphold human rights and justice at all cost.
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