Following prison van ambush: City lacks cops to secure jails

CEBU, Philippines — Considering its limited manpower, the Cebu City Police Office is studying if it is necessary to deploy additional personnel to help secure the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).

“Kailangan ng pulis? Lagyan natin, pero ang initiative na nakaya is one policeman, because I cannot put more than one policeman there, kasi kulang talaga… we have so many places that we have to cover din,” said CCPO chief, Senior Supt. Royina Garma.

She made the statement following the ambush that resulted to the death of two jail guards, Bernie Bayutas and Joel Teves, and ‘high-profile’ inmate Jerrifer Perigrino, last Thursday in Baranga Kalunasan.

The van ridden by the three were coming from CPDRC.

CCPO investigators are eyeing at ‘drug war among drug lords’ as possible motive of the killing.

Perigrino was arrested some time ago in Argao for possession of illegal drugs. He was able to serve jail time for that case, but was arrested once again.

CPDRC warden Reynaldo Valmoria said Perigrino has revealed that it was ‘big time’ drug lord Alvaro ‘Barok’ Alvaro that led the proliferation of illegal drugs in CPDRC.

Garma said it might be better to wait for the result of the investigation into Perigrino’s ambush before deploying additional cops.

“Pag-aaralan kasi this is the first time that it happened and we will wait for the result of the investigation. Yun ang pag-aaralan natin. Iimbestigahan muna ngano nahitabo na,” she said.

“Hindi tayo dapat, ito ang solusyon, without studying the situation. We have very limited resources that’s why we have to study… you have to maximize the use of your scarce resources,” she said.

CCPO only has 1,193 personnel of which 900 are deployed in different police stations, streets, and other police units. The rest are at the headquarters doing administrative work.

For context, this means every policeman will have to secure 670 individuals, considering that Cebu City has about 800,000 residents./

Garma said of the situation at the jail:

“Kahit tadtarin pa ng pulis ang kada kanto diyan, kung patuloy kang kasangkot sa droga, kung may galit-galit na sa iyo, talagang mangyayari yan, kasi hindi naman 24/7 na walang opportunity. There will always be opportunity,” she said.

For now, CCPO has assigned one policeman outside CPDRC but the assignment is only temporary.

“Meron na akong police na nailagay in between the na-minimize ang pagtapon ng drugs sa wall… tingnan  natin if kailangan pa, (police box) is temporary because wala ng space,” she said. (FREEMAN)