The matter of ‘perception’

One should not fault Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Chief Debold Sinas for contradicting Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s assessment of the peace and order in Cebu City following what can be described as one of the bloodiest days here last Juyly 10 when five people were killed in 13 hours. To accept what Osmeña said, that the city is “not so safe” anymore, is to admit that law enforcers are not doing their jobs well.

Sinas may have to acknowledge, however, that his reasoning sounded lame at times. First he compared apples from oranges when he said, “go to New York, (there’s a lot of crimes there), but they still consider themselves peaceful.” Then the clincher: “It is just a matter of perception.”

“It is still better to live in Cebu City than in Cotabato, which has very minimum reported incidents,” he added. “Compared province by province, the most peaceful supposedly is ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), pero ngano wala may gusto mopuyo didto?”

Perception is the lowest stage of knowledge, as it is based mainly on the senses. Only after the accumulation of perceptual knowledge does concepts form. That does not mean, though, that what is being perceived is not true. The “perception” that the city “is not so safe anymore” may yet be validatedby subsequent events.

That is why “perception” should not just be shunted aside. We hope that Sinas, instead of providing rationalizations, would find ways to stop the killings, which created the “perception” that the city is “not so safe.” Unless, of course, the killings are part of something sinister, like being an instrument of a purge, which we do not believe as yet.

Years ago, when vigilantes roamed the city’s streets and gunned down suspected criminals, Osmeña himself didn’t consider the situation as “not so safe.” He even tended to make it appear like the killings were beneficial because to him these deterred the commission of other forms of criminality. Until the now, the mayor would look back at those days as the best in terms of crime prevention.

So, yes, everything can be a matter of perception. Or should we say, rationalization?