Lomibao also clueless on Cebu City vigilante killings

CEBU CITY — Even Philippine National Police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao himself is clueless on solving the spate of vigilante-style killings here because no witnesses have surfaced.

In a press conference at Camp Sergio Osmeña Thursday morning, Lomibao said investigation and intelligence-gathering for a certain crime always start with the availability of information.

But when there is no information or witnesses, Lomibao said there is no way any investigation would prosper because everything must be based on facts.

But even with this predicament, Lomibao refused to admit there was failure in the justice system or a breakdown in law enforcement.

"Our job is to investigate. If we have nothing to investigate or we (don’t) have witnesses, then how can we proceed? So magtulong-tulong po tayo (let us help each other)," Lomibao said.

Since last December, at least 49 notorious personalities, 11 of them linked to illegal drugs, have been killed.

Human rights activists have blamed Mayor Tomas Osmeña for the vigilante-style killings since they started a day after he announced that he was creating a crack police team to hunt down criminals.

Last month, the Human Rights Commission admitted that it was difficult to solve the summary executions due to the lack of witnesses.

Earlier, homicide section chief Mario Monilar said they failed in their investigation because nobody was willing to cooperate and the victims’ families have not filed any complaints.

Acting police chief Melvin Gayotin challenged critics to help them solve the killings instead of assailing their capability to unmask the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, PNP spokesman, contradicted reports that the Philippines is the most dangerous place for journalists, saying the country is generally still the safest place to live in.

Bataoil, who accompanied Lomibao during the latter’s first visit to Central Visayas after he took over as PNP chief, said certain measures are already in place to protect journalists.

He cited the creation of Task Force Newsmen whose job is to collate various concerns of journalists nationwide, particularly death threats.

Bataoil downplayed the killings as mostly personal in nature, but added that the police are doing their part to bring justice for the victims’ families.

He said community involvement is necessary, adding that this worked in the March 24 killing of Sultan Kudarat journalist Marlene Esperat whose suspected killers were arrested just a day after the incident.

Bataoil appealed to journalists to trust the police by airing their concerns to them so that violence against newsmen could be prevented. — Freeman News Service