Applauding the police

When the police announced the arrest of Jimmy Largo for the ambush slay of Ermita Barangay Captain Imok Rupinta, a number of people wondered if he was not a fall guy. Rupinta’s common-law wife, who was seated beside him when he was shot, had described the killers as in their twenties and Largo is, and definitely looks, older.

Besides, he had an alibi: he was in Aloguinsan on the day of the shooting and he said he had witnesses to prove that he was playing bingo in the Ermita barangay hall when news of the ambush came. As any junior law student will tell you, however, alibi is a weak defense and cannot overcome positive identification by an eyewitness.

What should sway the skeptics, however, are the video footages showing or at least tending to show the presence of Largo and his alleged cohort, Jordan Gera, in or near the crime scene. Photoshop notwithstanding, pictures don’t lie.

The importance of CCTV cameras in crime prevention and solution cannot be over-emphasized. The last few years have seen authorities cracking what in the past were difficult cases with the aid of video footages. Surveillance cameras are now a major police ally although there have been cases where the gadgets have brought them woe such as when videotapes contradicting police claims of a legitimate encounter surface.

There have also been cases when the CCTV cameras proved to be (were rendered?) inutile such as when the trees in Sergio Osmena Ave. disappeared in the middle of the night and without a trace during the term of Mayor Mike Rama.There were supposed to be cameras installed by the city government in the vicinity but when a Team Rama councilor (was that you, Dave?) agreed to show the tapes, there was only blank darkness. Osmena Ave, was being widened at that time and the trees were in the middle of the road.

Still and all, the cameras are helpful and their installation, especially in business establishments should be encouraged or better yet, required. I applaud the police and, I’m sure so do the his people who troop to his wake nightly, for their quick work on Rupinta’s murder but their job has been made easier by the CCTV.

Roads are made for traveling, not for dancing or even mourning. But we have tolerated the practice of closing a road for discos, basketball tournaments, wakes and fiestas. It’s a cultural thing I tell myself every time I go home and find Aznar Road closed because a Miss Gay contest was ongoing or Southwestern University-Phinma was holding its intramurals or was celebrating the Sinulog.

We should, however, be conscious not to unnecessarily cause harm or inconvenience to others in our observance of tradition. My friend, Doming Geraldizo, complained to Vice Mayor Edgar Labella yesterday that his deliveries from his meat shop in Ermita have been hampered by the tents and other structures that have been erected on the road for the wake of Rupinta.

Doming says he respects the right of those who want to honor the slain barangay captain with their presence at his wake but he cannot just stop delivering meat to the grocery stores until Rupinta is buried on December 8. I do not think Rupinta would have allowed it either if he were alive.

So, move those mahjong and gaming card tables from the road, ladies and gentlemen. You should live and let live even in honoring the dead. Pahuwata sa siya. Imok was mocked. (But) a person has a right, from womb to tomb. Bisan patay kay naay katungod. FORMER CEBU CITY MAYOR MICHAEL RAMA, ON THE PLAN TO SUE MAYOR TOMAS OSMEñA FOR MALIGNING THE SLAIN ERMITA BARANGAY CAPTAIN FELICISIMO “IMOK” RUPINTA