Will Cebu go back to the days of killing fields?

That shooting incident involving a Korean car dealer who was killed along A.S. Fortuna just across the Peace Convent last Saturday scared so many people. This was highly disturbing in the sense that Cebu is being turned into some kind of gangland killing fields. I was playing golf at the Cebu Country Club when I got a lot of texts and calls from friends who wanted to know what was happening. Apparently when the police investigators cordoned off the area, they practically shut down busy A.S. Fortuna causing a humongous traffic mess.

The big question now is will the Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Office just react to this killing and wait until innocent bystanders get killed in the crossfire? I dare say that the PNP investigators ought to go into the offensive and check out the background of Yi Sung Jung of Su Won City in South Korea. They should go to the bottom of this case even if they have to go to Su Won City and seek assistance from the South Korean police.  Who knows this incident could be a gangland hit and the mastermind could very well be another Korean living in Su Won City who sent people to contract that hit against Yi Sung Jung in Cebu.

This is where police intelligence officers must work harder, perhaps with Philippine Immigration officers who can help them check out every single Korean that comes or leaves Cebu. Mind you, A.S. Fortuna Ave. is a busy roadway. Surely there must have been a lot of witnesses who saw that killing who can give vital information as to who were the assassins of the Korean national. Surely the driver can also give the police certain details. 

Now while Mr. Sung Jung was a car dealer, I find it odd that the SUV he was using wasn't Korean made. So was his car dealership a mere front? If so, perhaps the police should now investigate all car dealerships owned by South Koreans because these may just be a front business. I just hope that police investigators also checked the license or plate number of that SUV.

Finally, what about that crystalline substance found in the Korean's vehicle? Are we looking at a drug related crime happening in our streets? Where those Korean friends of Sung Jung just ordinary friends or are they part of his group? This is why the police should question those friends. So many questions and so few answers. So now the ball is in the court of the PNP. I certainly hope to hear more from the police in the next few days.

Speaking of drug related cases. Now it can be told that Vice President Jejomar Binay's trip to China was abruptly cancelled because I'm sure that top Chinese government officials were not comfortable having the second highest ranking official of the Philippine Government in Beijing when they are about to execute a Filipina drug mule. So in what I would say a very polite move by the Chinese government, they told the Vice President that his visit wasn't acceptable at this time. If there is anything that we must learn from our Asian neighbors, it is that they do not want their guests to lose face by refusing a request for the stay of execution of that Filipina mule.

That the Philippines has been marked as a “transshipment point” by illegal drug syndicates or the Hong Kong Triad gives us a better picture as to why even after China executed two or three Filipino mules, there are still many more who were arrested and languishing in death row. Perhaps my good friend Atty. Paul Oaminal, who was once our “drug czar” knows more about our drug problems plaguing the country. Now that he writes a column in The Freeman, he should devote some space about the drug problem in this country in order to appraise our readers of the immensity of this problem.

Last Saturday, it was Yi Sung Jung's turn to die. It makes me wonder how many more Koreans will be killed in the next few months. Incidentally, while this shooting incident happened within Mandaue City, lucky for Mayor Michael Rama that it was just a few meters at the boundary between Cebu City and Mandaue City. But since the masked assassins riding in a motorcycle drove to Cebu City, now the Cebu City Police Office must start looking for these killers.

I'd like to point out to our newly-inducted elected officials of Cebu City and Province that if Cebu has been enjoying our tourism boom, it is not just because of our white beaches or beautiful tourism sites, it is also due to the fact that since the year 2005, thanks to former Gov. Gwen F. Garcia's declaration of war against the roots that breeds communism, Cebu has been considered “insurgency free”. The dividends of peace are the sight of so many tourists arriving at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA). So let's not put our guard down and exhort our PNP officers the importance of peace in Cebu, lest we lose our tourism industry… then all is lost! So let's demand results from our PNP pronto!

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