Before leaving to attend the president’s State of the Nation Address yesterday, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama ordered city policemen to solve three crimes; the brutal attack on a dentist, the killing of a 19-year-old woman whose body was dumped in Barangay Tisa, and the reported abduction of a Chinese businessman and two others at the Carbon Market.
“I already made a very clear warning to the chief of police not to give me any reason, or any, for what I call drastic change,” he said by way of threat.
Yes, we want to see those crimes solved, but we also to remind the police that there are other crimes that happened in Cebu City that we also want to see solved.
For example, we have yet to seen the resolution of the murder of Clarin, Misamis Oriental, Mayor David Navarro, who was dragged out of a police car then summarily executed in middle of the street on his way to court in 2019,
There are also the murders of several lawyers, like Jonnah John Ungab who was shot dead in 2018, Mary Ann Castro shot dead in 2019, and Rex Fernandez shot dead in 2021.
Unsolved cases aren’t limited to the murder of politicos and lawyers, even the killing of some policemen have yet to be resolved like the murder of police lieutenant colonel Joie Yape Jr. and police captain Delfin Bontuyan, both shot dead in 2019, and police chief master sergeant Brazilio Borinaga shot dead in 2020, just to name a few.
Of course, the city’s more sensational crimes didn’t always involve murder. There was also the theft of the Sinulog fund in 2012 where a total of ?1.6 million cash was taken from the broken-in metal cabinet at the Sinulog Foundation Inc. office at the Cebu City Sports Center. They never found who did it.
People may not remember but there was also the case of former City Hall paymaster Rosalina Badana who embezzled ?18 million from the city from 1995 to 1998. While she has been convicted in absentia, like the Sinulog fund thief, she remains at large.
It would be nice to see those cases solved too. The police have much on their plate. They better get a move on.