Stop spreading rumors and start naming names!

When I read the headline of The FREEMAN yesterday that no less than Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter Pres. Alex Tolentino "revealed" that a top police officer is behind the vigilante-style killings, which have plagued Cebu City for most part of last year and continues to go unabated this year… I thought that we'd finally see the end of this criminal activity; after all, we still believe in the rule of law and any execution without a trial is still murder!

Alas, Atty. Alex Tolentino fell short of presenting to the public the name of this top ranking police officer. Being a top honcho of the IBP, I expected him to come up with a name so that we can finally prosecute the brains behind these killings. While news like this is good copy to sell newspapers, the public is still shortchanged by this story because it now falls under plain and simple innuendoes or rumormongering.

Atty. Tolentino is a lawyer and surely he must know that the story he presented to the media is for all and intents "hearsay" which we all know is inadmissible in any court of law. I can understand why Atty. Tolentino has to "protect" the name of this top-ranking officer because this was revealed to him by another police officer and it was told to him in confidence.

But I fully agree with Cebu City Police Director Melvin Gayotin for Atty. Tolentino to reveal the name of the police officer concerned so finally we can prosecute whosoever it is. So what's stopping him from telling us the name of the police officer who knows who is behind these vigilante killings? While we yelp, harp and bark like hungry dogs about the unresolved vigilante killing, it would seem that there is really no group doing any scientific analysis on those killings.

For instance we would like to know what gun caliber was used in all those killings and whose keeping count. What was the modus operandi? Surely if you saw the Miami CSI tv series, someone could get certain commonalities that may point to the vigilante killers. In the interest of justice, that name must be revealed to the public; otherwise, the media shouldn't give any importance to any further reports coming from Atty. Tolentino.

Let me point out clearly that just like anyone suspected of any criminal act, our laws guarantee whosoever this police officer is his right to innocence until proven guilty, something that vigilantes do not respect. They simply shoot and kill people who may have criminal records, although they didn't get a death sentence. If there is one good reason why we frown on vigilantism, it is that, it signifies the rule of the gun. So far, I still have faith in the rule of law; after all, we are still a nation of laws and not of men… that's why we still have to deal with lawyers!

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Speaking of lawyers, there is no doubt that the Quisumbing vs. Quisumbing (Q vs. Q) legal battle will pit big time lawyers from Manila and use the Palace of Justice in Cebu as their battleground. I'm sure that the legal fees that would result in this legal battle would fill up a lot of pockets. I have always believed that in a nasty legal battle, there are no winners except the lawyers who end up getting much of the dough that is up for grabs! On the side of Norberto Quisumbing (NQJR) the father of Wesy, there's the law offices of Hernandez and Gatmaitan, which is considered the biggest law firm in the country with some 180 lawyers on call and supported by Cebu lawyers from the Alvarez, Nuñez, Galang, Espina and Lopez, to the Calderon, Davide, Trinidad and Tolentino law offices. This is on top of their house counsel, Atty. Wilbert Dumon. On Wesy's side, there's the Real Emmanuel S. Brotarlo and Sherwin G. Real offices.

To add drama to this already sensational case, Wesy has filed a case against famous legal personality Atty. Katrina Legarda, who will be represented by Atty. Raymund Fortun, who is handling the case of Erap. Now if this isn't a bevy of legal beagles whose bank accounts need to be filled!

Now didn't we write it here last Monday that Wesy had a medical episode when she went into a coma and was brought to the ICU of Perpetual Succour Hospital because of high blood sugar? I'm sure that the lawyers on both sides experienced a "panic attack" because if Wesy didn't come out of that coma, that case would have gone down the drain. Thankfully, she's okay now and raring to go.

Again, I suggest to NQJR who once considered me as "one of his sons" though I submit I'm now a "prodigal son" that he should settle this case amicably in order to spare him the embarrassment that this legal battle will bring… not to mention the huge money he'd have to shell out.

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