Tomas and Eddiegul on drug problem

President Duterte last Tuesday (Aug. 21) told the mayors of the Visayas in a cluster conference held in Cebu City “to fully enforce the law and raise the bar in governance, especially in the fight against illegal drugs.”

Of the 283 local governments, Duterte singled out Talisay, throwing his favorite expletive (“pu*** in*”) at the city. He cursed, then threatened: “Mahurot mo diha, hinay-hinay,” which in the original Cebuano-Bisaya or in the news translation didn’t specify how they -- public officials, residents, or everyone in the city -- will be wiped out.

Duterte’s focus on Talisay -- along with his sweeping indictment that almost all police members and PDEA agents, including the officials, in Cebu are drug addicts -- was glaring enough.

More beating

Talisay got another beating the next day from an unlikely source. Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña flogged Talisay (“worst, really bad”) and bashed its mayor, Eduardo Gullas, as well (“a lousy mayor”). Gullas, he said, has been protecting “trouble-makers like Joavan Fernandez,” son of former mayor now Councilor Soc Fernandez.

What prompted Tomas to lash at Eddiegul? One can only speculate: bad blood between them, harping on Talisay’s failure to highlight Cebu City’s success, or plain meanness. Whatever, it didn’t enlighten the public officials and their residents on how the campaign can be better waged.

Picking the chief

Tomas could’ve helped Talisay by showing how mayors should do it. He only indicated how his city succeeded: the police chief (Senior Supt. Joel Doria) “did a good job.” Eddiegul was “a lousy mayor” because he picked the wrong police chief and coddled troublemakers such as Jovan Fernandez?

Other than having a competent and honest police chief, how much really does the mayor influence the results of the community’s drug campaign? Besides, a mayor must not be judged solely by the quantity of drugs seized or the number of bodies of drug suspects taken to the morgue. Rising prices, poverty, basic services and other urgent concerns of the community also demand attention from the mayor.

Coordinate, clarify

Maybe Tomas should’ve kept his energy and anger to Cebu City unless he could show that his city is shining and drug activities in Talisay are spoiling its luster. Which would call for inter-city coordination. Which would need a structure like a Metro Cebu Cebu coordinating council or similar arrangement. An effort that Tomas has rebuffed for some time already.

An LGU mayor calling another LGU mayor inept is surely not what Cebu, which is virtually converted into a “killing field,” needs. Instead, to fix liability over the drug war which is blamed for the rash of killings, they should seek to clarify the mayors power of “operational supervision and control” over the police in their respective areas.

Since the mayor can be blamed for the state of peace and order in his LGU, he should be able to exercise fully his authority under the law. He should not be faulted for failure of anything over he which he has little actual power or influence.

What the law says

Under Republic Act #6957, that power of “operational supervision and control,” derived from the mayor being deputized as Napolcom representative, includes the power to “direct, superintend, oversee, reprimand the police serving the LGU. Mayors can “employ” and “deploy” troops under the said law.

If the law is clear enough, why then are Mayor Tomas and PNP officials in the region and the city feuding on how troops are used and fielded? Or, is that happening only in Cebu City where the mayor openly accuses police of killing PDEA agents and attempting to kill one of his political allies?

Unified voice

Quarreling with the police may be necessary if police officials are less than truthful. The mayor has a more efficient b.s. detector than his constituents. And many citizens cheered when Tomas called out the suspicious police behavior in the recent violent incidents in Cebu. But Tomas thrashing Eddiegul, a fellow public official, over a virtue of which Tomas himself may also be found wanting? Thumb down.

Instead, the mayors in Cebu can pool individual clout and raise a unified voice to express indignation and to demand that the killings be solved and the culprits prosecuted.