Maambong: ‘Lack of car’ reason a ‘lousy excuse’

 “They (Mandaue City policemen) cannot just make their own lousy excuse and pass the buck to another,” said Provincial Board member Victor Maambong as he called for an investigation into the alleged slow response of the Mandaue City Police Office to a stabbing alarm last November 24.

In a proposed resolution, Maambong said that policemen could not just reason out that the lack of police cars caused them to fail to respond immediately to a critical situation needing their assistance.

The case in point here was the stabbing of the 45-year-old Enrique Carello Torres, of sitio Uling in barangay Opao, who died before arriving at the hospital.

Residents blamed the slow response of the police on duty to the crime scene. It was then reported that PO3 Manolito Labus, desk officer at the time, allegedly told the caller who alerted the police about the stabbing that the police have no available patrol car yet.

Maambong struck this reason as a “lousy excuse,” saying that policemen are “supposed to respond immediately in order to save life, preserve the scene (and any evidence) of the crime, and go after the perpetrators who might still be near the area.”

The PB will tackle in its session today the Maambong proposed resolution that also enjoins the  Provincial Police Office to investigate the alleged slow response of Labus to the incident after receiving the alarm from a caller.

Besides the investigation, Maambong further wants investigators to review the standard operating procedures of each police office in the province, particularly emergency cases involving the lives of people. — Gerome M. Dalipe/RAE