EDITORIAL - The sorry state of the Mandaue police

Lightning struck in Mandaue again last Thursday. Businessman and presidential friend Wilson Yu was ambushed and slain by three men in broad daylight. And just like other lightning strikes in Mandaue in the past, such as the discovery of the shabu laboratories, the Mandaue police were caught with their pants down.

A day after the attack on Yu, the Mandaue police remained clueless about their investigation on the case and, just like when the shabu laboratories were discovered, they complained they lack resources and support from Camp Crame.

The Mandaue police force does not need to remind the country that they lack resources. It is a fact that the police in the whole country, and not only in Mandaue, are deprived of the much needed funds to function well. Complaining about it over and over again and using it as a scapegoat when caught in a difficult situation does not project a good image for the Mandaue police force. Does the Mandaue police mean that just because their logistics are inadequate they are helpless in stopping, much less solving crimes?

Their admission of their inadequacies and shortfalls when the Yu ambush-slay happened brought memories of those same inadequacies and shortfalls during the height of the shabu laboratory case. A year separates the shabu laboratory incident from the Yu ambush-slay. Mandaue cops should have learned from what happened before and took extra care for it not to happen again. They should have shaped up after the incident. But as it is, they did not do anything. And when another difficult situation hit them, they again sang the same song of lack of resources.

The officials of Mandaue should act on this immediately. They should pressure their police force to shape up because this act of the city police is not good for the city. Mandaue, just like its neighbor Cebu, is a highly urbanized city, cops in Mandaue should also act like they are in such a city. They should be proud enough to tell Mandaue residents in the face that they will do anything to keep the place safe and not hide behind their inadequacies and shortfalls whenever a high-profile crime happens.