Mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña
Mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña handed over P155,000 in cash to policemen who killed suspected drug lord Rowen “Yawa” Secretaria and his two alleged runners on Banacon Island, Getafe town, Bohol province, on May 28.
Senior Insp. Henrix Bancoleta of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force in Central Visayas (Raidsot) and his team received P50,000 for each of the dead suspects and P5,000 for the wounded suspect, Ricardo Ostolono.
“Don’t call it a reward,” said Osmeña.
“We’re not ordering people to kill. We’re giving money so that when our policemen shoot somebody, they will have money to defend themselves [against lawsuits],” Osmeña said shortly after he handed over the money to the policemen in his home in Barangay Guadalupe here on Thursday.
Bancoleta said the policemen decided to donate P100,000 of the money to an institution that took care of children with cancer.
The remaining P55,000, he added, would be divided among the three Cebu-based units that took part in the joint operation on Banacon Island.
These are the Raidsot, the provincial intelligence branch of the Cebu provincial police and the police’s Regional Public Safety Battalion in Central Visayas.
Bancoleta said the money would be used to “buy gear for our respective units.”
“To be honest, we didn’t expect the money from the mayor because in the first place, we are not members of the Cebu City police,” said Bancoleta.
“We’re just very happy about what he (Osmeña) did. It means a lot to us,” he said.
Bancoleta and his team were the third batch of policemen who received cash rewards from the incoming mayor who had offered to give P50,000 for every crime suspect killed and P5,000 for each wounded suspect.
Osmeña earlier gave P20,000 to PO3 Julius Regis who shot and wounded two robbery suspects last month.
After a week, he gave P50,000 to the Cebu City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group who killed a suspected drug dealer in a raid in Barangay Sudlon 2.
The raiding team from Cebu clashed with Secretaria and his men on Banacon Island before sunrise on May 28.
Secretaria, the third most wanted drug suspect in Central Visayas, was killed with his two alleged aides–Dario Torremocha and John Jason Montes.
But a witness said Montes, a 22-year-old native of Barangay Ermita in Cebu City, raised his hand in an apparent act of surrender but policemen still shot him.
Montes’ mother asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate his son’s death.
Bancoleta said his team welcomed the investigation.
“The CHR is just doing its job. They have the mandate to ensure that we policemen do not go beyond what is allowed by law,” he said.
Osmeña, however, said he did not believe there was a rubout in Montes’ case.
“You know I’m focused on fighting drugs. I’m not focused on scoring pogi points. I don’t care whether people will like or hate me. I’m only fighting drugs. Never mind the what ifs. Never mind the scenario. Bahala na. That’s it,” he said.
When a suspect was killed by a policemen, Osmeña said he always expected an investigation to follow.
“When somebody is dead, everybody wants it investigated. That’s what the money I give to the policemen is for, so they can defend themselves,” he said.
“This is one of the reasons our policemen are not effective. They are left all alone once they get into trouble. And I’m going to maintain [the policy of giving money to policemen who can kill criminals and drug lords],” he added.
Osmeña said the cash reward system was primarily for Cebu City policemen. But if a village watchman killed a drug lord, the mayor said, the watchman would be qualified for the reward, too.
“Where do you draw the line? I draw the line when they are helping in the battle against drugs. But what if a drug lord kills another drug lord? Hala, I do not know how to answer that question,” he said, laughing.
Osmeña smiled when told that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte offered P3 million in reward to policemen or soldiers who could get drug lords “dead or alive,” P1 million for “drug supervisors” and P50,000 for “small-time drug peddlers.”
“That’s good. But my score is still higher than his,” Osmeña said.