News and UpdatesIn the NewsShooting victims’ families unite; demand justice

Shooting victims’ families unite; demand justice

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Victims of shooting incidents here have started to come out in the open to seek justice for their slain loved ones amid complaints of perceived slow progress in cases.

In a privilege speech Wednesday, the presiding officer of the City Council, Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova disclosed that 44 families have so far come out and expressed willingness to organize as one so they will have the courage to ask for updates on their cases.

Of the 44 cases, only three cases have reached the courts, while the rest were either dismissed for lack of evidence or no evidence at all.

Some of the families claimed being given a run-around when they ask for updates from the police regarding case investigation. The usual answer would be that there is an “ongoing investigation and that there are persons of interest,” Cordova said.

The worst scenario is when an investigator assigned to a certain case is transferred and no records are left for the successor to continue the probe, he further said.

As chairman of the committee on peace and order, Cordova said for countless times, he is asked on updates of shooting incidents in the City but he can only reply with limited information in the absence of data and necessary documents.

Thus, he said, he authored an ordinance that would create a public safety office but this has not been implemented.

With this development, the office of the vice mayor initiated moves to gather all the families of the victims to know from them the background of their cases for possible legislative action.

In trying to educate himself on the parameters of what is meant by crime solved, Cordova attended the recent Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting upon the invitation of the chairman, Gov. Roel Degamo.

In that meeting, Provincial Police Director Police Col. Julian Entoma reported that for the period 2016 up to the present, more than 800 were victims of shooting incidents and other crimes all over the province, 76 of them in Dumaguete.

According to Entoma, a case is considered solved when suspects are identified, arrested, and brought to the city or provincial prosecutors office for inquest or preliminary investigation, regardless of whether there is probable cause or not for it to reach the courts.

Given the parameters, Cordova stressed it is the intention of the city council to be able to find ways and means to address lapses in the investigation, upon learning only one lawyer is assigned to the police for the entire Region 7.

Based on testimonies of the families concerned, the assassins are mostly riding-in-tandem wearing helmets and jackets.

Thus, the lawyer-presiding officer is exploring the possibility of requiring motorists to remove their helmets when flagged down by traffic enforcers or any authorized enforcers at any given time in the City. (Juancho Gallarde)

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