No more spilling of blood

He is , based on some accounts, far from being a saint.

Raul Sesbreño, who was the real target of last Wednesday’s ambush at the South Coastal Road in Talisay City, Cebu that claimed the lives of his wife and two companions, led a colorful life.

Sesbreño was convicted for the murder of a porter whom he suspected of robbing his wife’s store in 1993. Life imprisonment was cut short to nine years after his conviction was reduced to homicide by the Supreme Court,

Sesbreño was also accused of being a nuisance for filing cases against fellow lawyers, judges and public officials who crossed his path.

He was once censured by the Supreme Court for trying to collect 30 percent of damage claims from government street sweepers whom he defended in a salary dispute case with the Capitol.

But for all his past sins, Raul Sesbreño certainly didn’t have to pay for it with the deaths of his wife, and two close family friends, including a a young man who drove them that fateful Wednesday.

What appeared as a simple case of murder caused by a lot dispute with illegal settlers got a little complicated after Sesbreño and his son announced that they knew the masterminds behind the killings.

After seeking security escorts from the police, he called in the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to assist in the investigation.

Sesbreño expressed reservations about the police, after learning that one of the occupants had a padrino in Talisay City politics.

This doesn’t speak well of the Talisay City police which is having a brief respite from Talisay City’s “favorite son” Joavan Fernandez, trouble-making adopted scion of Mayor Socrates Fernandez.

It can do its part, however, by maintaining the peace and ensuring the court-ordered demolitions stay free of violence.

As a national law enforcement agency, the NBI should be allowed to do its job and not be encumbered by Talisay City officials like Mayor Fernandez.

The court, which issued the demolition order, should resolve quickly the issues of ownership surrounding the Borromeo-owned property in Lawaan.

What the mayor and his officials can probably do is find a relocation site for affected families and help them with the transfer.

Talisay police face the big challenge of tracking down the killers.

The longer the perpetrators remain at large, the bigger the threat of more violence visiting the parties in the land conflict.

No more blood should be spilled.