Osmeña willing to take over city’s peace and order concerns

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is willing to take over the management of the city’s peace and order concerns if the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 continues to claim that Cebu is safe.

This, as Osmeña urged the public to help him look for two black Hyundai cars, which he dubbed as “cars of interest,” whose drivers may be involved in the series of killings in the city.

PRO 7 Director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas earlier said that Cebu is still safe because the number of killings isn’t the only gauge of how safe a city is.

“I wish I could say it’s safe at this point. Now I can say it’s not safe. I’m scared. I would just like to tell the Cebuanos that I accept this challenge if the regional director is not responsible for peace and order, I will accept that challenge. I do not know how to do it but I will do it,” Osmeña told reporters yesterday.

The mayor wants to establish a neighborhood watch, which encourages the public to coordinate with authorities and report unusual activities in their areas.

“One thing we have to develop is an intelligence system. What we need is the people to keep reporting to me. Just text even if you dont like to be named,” he said.

As part of the neighborhood watch, Osmeña asked the public to report two “cars of interest.”

“They go together. Basta I’m looking for two black Hyundai cars. Many of these killings are related. Just text me,” he said.

Contrary to how the mayor feels about the city being unsafe, Gov. Hilario Davide III believes that Cebu Province is still “relatively safe.”

“Sa Cebu, I can say nga it’s still relatively safe with the absence of incidents similar to what is happening in Cebu City,” Davide said.

According to the police’s records, murder incidents in the province dropped from 105 cases from January to May last year to only 74 in the same months this year.

Davide, though, is also alarmed by the killings that occurred in the past days, especially those targeting local officials.

“For me, it is still a cause for great concern,” Davide said. He urged police to increase visibility in crime-prone areas.