Make the case stick
TALISAY City Mayor Socrates Fernandez is reacting again to his adopted son Joavan’s recent scrape with the law like the Soc the public knows. He won’t surrender Joavan, who has been accused of shooting and wounding a watchman, despite the police “manhunt” against him.
Fernandez said that since the police have yet to file a case against Joavan, he won’t surrender his adopted son. And he believes Joavan’s alibi that he was at a motel when the shooting happened. And yes, he is hiring a lawyer for his son.
Putting up a legal defense is a right of an accused, so we shouldn’t begrudge the mayor for doing that. After all, it’s possible the watchman, Eduardo Largo Jr., may have mistaken Joavan for another person—a point his lawyer will surely be raising.
What we would be frowning upon is when Brod Soc would act true to form again with regards to the accuser and possible witnesses against his son, like what happened in the past. Using one’s power so accusers and witnesses would back off is never the mark of a good government official.
Still on the matter of reactions, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Chief Marcelo Garbo is saying the right things so far.
“We have to stop him. We can’t tolerate his behavior. He has had too many skirmishes with the law for a long time,” a Sun.Star Cebu report quoted him as saying.
But voicing an opinion is different from putting words into action. It would be interesting to find out how effectively the head of the Talisay City Police Station (TCPS) will follow Garbo’s order considering how Fernandez is reacting to the recent complaint against Joavan.
The manhunt conducted by the police against Joavan is based on the principle of “hot pursuit” but it’s good that a complaint for frustrated murder and violation of the election gun ban has finally been filed yesterday against him. The push is for the issuance of an arrest warrant.
But even if Joavan is arrested, the problem for the police is how to make the case against him stick. How far has the TCPS gone in, say, getting witnesses to prop up Largo’s claim? Have the police looked into Joavan’s alibi and checked with the motel?
Those questions are just for starters. The point is, the police should show diligence if the goal is to make Joavan realize that he can be made to answer for whatever shenanigan he commits.