Poe wants a Senate inquiry on Cebu killings

Sen. Grace Poe is concerned about the spate of killings in Cebu.

Because of this, she will file a resolution on Monday, Oct. 29, calling for a Senate inquiry on the matter.

SunStar Cebu and Superbalita have recorded 202 killings between June 1 and Oct. 25 this year.

Poe will file the resolution as vice chairperson of the committee on public order and dangerous drugs, which is chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

“Well of course, there are different sides to the story. We cannot blame these all on one particular reason. Some people may be taking advantage of the war on drugs, but some may have legitimately solved (the problem),” said Poe.

Some of the deaths happened during the police’s “one-time, big-time” (OTBT) operations.

But the Police Regional Office 7, headed by Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, has repeatedly said they are ready to face any inquiry.

The figures indicate that there is more than one death per day: 202 deaths in 147 days.

In the 202 deaths recorded, 118 of these were deaths by unknown perpetrators--mostly people on board motorcycles. Over 50 deaths were attributed to police operations.

Poe hopes the police are fair in investigating crimes.

“I hope they don’t just arrest small-time criminals, or imprison only poor perpetrators. They should also include those behind the P11 billion worth of shabu that entered our ports,” she said in Tagalog.