On regulating gangs

An ordinance to regulate membership in gangs was suggested by Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, Cebu provincial police chief. This seems about as naïve as expecting Chief Justice Renato Corona to fully disclose his dollar accounts immediately or even on Monday.

Yet from the perspective of local government officials and communities, this isn’t far-fetched especially if parents put their feet down and prohibit their children from joining youth gangs.

We’re not yet talking about how to classify youth groups, whether they are street gangs of youth thugs or more organized Greek-letter fraternities, who can have a patina of respect owing to elders in high society.

More likely Comendador is referring to street gangs that recruit youngsters from low-income families.

These gangs, as he pointed out, include those that operate in Cebu City and other parts of Metro Cebu, the notorious ones like the Bloods or Crips.

Some gangs attempt to assume a measure of respectability by assuring police they will cooperate and police their own ranks during major events such as the Sinulog.

If there is evidence to support Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez’s complaint that youth gangs now operate in Bogo’s public high schools, this should signal Cebu City police to a word with the gang leaders.

The police could start a crackdowns of course, but like the Hydra that lives on even when one of its heads is chopped off, the raids would be futile as it would force the gangs to go underground.

That said, an ordinance regulating gangs would somehow give an imprimatur or seal of approval for youths to create fraternities that appear respectable on the outside but then operate pretty much like an amateur underground crime syndicate.

We need to differentiate between street gangs which should be banned outright since they foster crime and violence and fraternities which exist legally in and outside schools despite questions about their harsh, even deadly hazing rituals and practices.

Both street gangs and fraternities are potential breeding grounds for drug trafficking.

The police, let alone the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency already have their hands full dealing with professional drug traffickers and lords.

Still, Cebu local officials may want to consider alternatives to Comendador’s proposal if only to reinforce efforts to curb if not immediately eliminate the drug menace.