Mayor cites flaws in gun ban for crime: Killing of acolyte angers Tommy O

CEBU, Philippines - An exasperated Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who was apparently moved by the death of a 14-year-old boy, who was shot by three robbers last Sunday, expressed his disappointment at the way the gun ban has been implemented by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The gun ban, which took effect since last December is part of the measures taken by the Comelec to ensure peaceful elections.

Osmeña said that while the law-abiding citizens are following the rules, the criminals are not. He urged the Comelec, in jest, to also implement the gun ban on the criminals.

The mayor also directed his tirade to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which once initiated an investigation into the spate of vigilante-style killings that targeted people with known criminal background.

The mayor, a licensed firearm holder, said the latest incident involving the killing of Carlo Mangitngit, 14, at sitio Banawa, Guadalupe last Sunday morning happened because while the Comelec officials insisted of implementing a nationwide gun ban in relation to the May 10 national and local elections, they failed to implement the gun ban to the criminals.

He is also asking those who condemned the spate of vigilante-style killings to come out now and raise an issue about the death of the young boy.

“Ang maayong buhaton sa Comelec ug sa Commission on High Rights mao ang paghangyo sa mga criminal nga please don’t bring your firearms during the gun ban,” said Osmeña.

Mangitngit, a second year high school student and an altar boy of Parish of the Alliance of Two Hearts in Banawa, was on an errand to buy vegetables when three men on board a motorcycle robbed him of his phone.

The victim tried to run away in fear, but was shot by one of the three robbers.

The incident happened around 8 a.m. and Mangitngit expired about eight hours after at the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

His cellular phone, a Nokia 3310, reportedly only costs P500.

Cebu City PNP Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) head Michael Anthony Bastes believed that the robbers thought that the boy’s phone was expensive because he was using a stick in encoding a text message, which the robbers could have thought was one with a touch screen.

Osmeña added that the lives of peace-loving people are at risk with the gun ban, because they could no longer defend their lives as they are already prohibited from bringing their guns outside of their houses.

The ban is in effect until June 10.

The mayor also challenged the controversial adopted son of Talisay Mayor Socrates Fernandez, Joavan, to look for the killers of the altar boy.

“Kining mga tawhana maoy angay’ng pangitaon ni Joavan kon tinuod siya nga isog,” the mayor said.

Joavan has been involved in a string of mischief where he has been tagged as harassing people.

A Kind And Friendly Boy

They killed a very kind and very friendly kid.

It was not unusual for Mangitngit to be sent by his mother out for an errand as he was a very obedient son.

Marieta Mangitngit, 44, mother of the victim, said she could not believe that her son is already dead.

She described her son as very kind, obedient, and a home body. She said that the boy never complained when he was asked to help in the household chores and was also a hard-working student at Abellana National School where he was in his second year in high school.

The victim had been an acolyte for over a year, his mother said.

Marieta, who sells ice water, said that while her son was used to doing errands, he was especially hard working the previous week as he volunteered to do most of the chores at home.

And on the day before he was killed, Carlo, who used to sleep on the floor at the living room, woke up at 7 a.m. and transferred to the sofa claiming that he was still sleepy.

“Nahibong mi ug iyang apo-han kay karon ra man gud na nahitabo na mag-balhin-balhin siya og katulog kay katugon pa daw siya,” she added.

“Mao to unya pagsugo sa iyang apohan pagpalit kamunggay ngadto sa amo ra pud paryente, milakaw siya dayon,” she said.

She was doing laundry when the eight-year-old companion of the victim and two other kids rushed to their house and told her that Carlo was shot.

She rushed to the place, which was about 100 meters from their house, and rushed her son to the hospital.

She said that Carlo would moan softly whenever she called his name on their way to the hospital.

The boy sustained a lone gunshot wound at the back of his head which exited at his forehead.

When The FREEMAN visited the victim’s wake, several kids were around; almost all of whom also said that the victim was a kind and friendly person.

The 13-year old boy, who was with the victim when the incident happened, told The FREEMAN that he was close to the victim. He allegedly went with the victim when the latter asked him to accompany him that time.

He said that he was speechless and unable to move when the robbers shot his friend in front of him. —/NLQ (FREEMAN NEWS)