A venue for grandstanding

The move to conduct a Senate inquiry into the series of killings has gained more support in the upper chamber. At least four senators said they supported a proposed resolution calling for an investigation into the spate of murders in Cebu these past months.

Senators Bam Aquino, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, and JV Ejercito, who visited Cebu last Friday, have supported the move. Earlier Senator Grace Poe said she would file a resolution urging a probe into Cebu killings.

Saying the killings in Cebu have reached an alarming level, Angara wanted the incidents investigated. Binay, for her part, said the resolution has already been referred to the committee on public order chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson.

But it was Aquino, one of the authors of the resolution, who wanted the Senate investigation to be conducted in Cebu. He explained it would be more convenient for the witnesses if the hearings will be done in Cebu.

“Recently, we have heard from our friends here na tumataas yung dami nang pinapatay at medyo brazen na yung paraan ng pagpatay. Maraming senators na nag-file ng resolutions upang mapakinggan yung nangyayari po dito,” Aquino said, “if ever matutuloy na ang investigation, we want it done here so that witnesses will not be having a hard time going to Manila.”

Should the Senate investigation push through in Cebu, many hope that it will not be used as a venue where those involved have the opportunity to grandstand. We all know that many of those in the Senate who sought the investigation are reelectionists themselves.

As the next elections draw nearer, many of them might use the inquiry as an opportunity to grab the limelight. Cebuanos cannot just afford to be duped into believing that the Senate investigation is meant to ferret out the truth about the spate of killings in Cebu when in fact it is designed by many only for political purposes.