MCPO LOOKS TO CONNECT TWO DIFFERENT CASES

Were the attempted ambush of a businessman in Mandaue City and the death threat received by Dr. Geraldine Yapha connected?

That’s what officials of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) are trying to determine.

Senior Supt. Julian Entoma, MCPO director, said businessman John Pearlnel Dinoro told them he suspected that the people behind the attempt on his life may be from Toledo City.

Toledo City is in the third congressional district. Its mayor, John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña, is running to represent the district in the May elections against Yapha and Pablo John Garcia, who had served the district for two terms. Dinoro used to be the driver and bodyguard of Osmeña.

Entoma clarified that the Cebu Provincial Police Office was looking at politics as a motive in Yapha’s case, while they were focusing on the businessman’s claims that he received threats from a competitor in the sand and gravel business in Toledo City.

However, Entoma believed the two incidents were indications that there may be armed groups in Toledo City and the rest of the third district.

“That is why we are giving our colleagues in the third district a heads up, as armed groups sometimes take advantage of their potential target’s situation, from personal grudges to political rivalries. Maybe that is what is happening so the police need to look into this to see if it is serious,” Entoma said, in Cebuano.

Entoma had said they were coordinating with their counterparts in Toledo City to solve the Dinoro case.

To prevent armed men from entering Mandaue, the MCPO activated the Tactical Motorcycle Riders and the Quick Response Team to monitor the city’s entry and exit points.