BULL'S HIT

Rudy Garcia
Crime and police jurisdiction

Tired and hungry from a long period of window shopping at the trade fair along Burnham Park, near the Athletic Bowl and skating rink, in Baguio, me and my son decided to eat in a cheap turo turo or carinderia that could be enough on our budget, but we were surprised to learn how much we pay for that little food which did not even fill one fourth of our stomach.

Little did we realize that the P300 worth of the food we ate was not reasonable enough considering the high price of the raw items and LPG. It was hard to believe that a common tao with a common salary below the average could make it if he or she were to eat in a cheap turo turo all along.

Needless to say, if a man earns an average of minimum P 300 a day and eats in a cheap turo turo for a budget meal and multiply it three times a day, then he could spend at least P 120-150 a day if he prefers the budget meal. If he chooses an “ordinary” meal then he spends P300 a day for his food. And how about his basic needs, his boarding house rental, transportation and so forth? Simple mathematics.

I am not an economist or a management expert but having gone through this experience, I could not imagine an ordinary Juan Dela Cruz to be able to cross the bridge when the demand is more heavier to hold than the supply which is on the other hand.

In other words, his expenses are much higher than his income. This is what they call supply and demand. Can we hear more of those economists pretending to be smart saying this banana republic is far from being affected by the global crisis?

They could say so if their husband or wife is receiving millions of kickbacks from projects, making them worry less, (or is worthless?) and nothing to fear in these times of trouble. Well, it’s already difficult to count the money that was accidentally thrown out from an attaché case intended for delivery to the husband of the queen who lives near the Pasig River. They are really good economists, they don’t need to worry about money.
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I have been calling the attention of concerned Baguio Authorities to look into those areas along upper and lower Magsaysay Avenue where criminal elements conduct their illegal activities due to the operation of adjacent business establishments such as beerhouses, bars and billiards, massage parlors motels and so forth.

These areas in particular are from the overpass beside Jollibee down to Lower Magsaysay near the Baguio Central University and the vicinity area of corner Magsaysay Avenue and Upper Burgos St. However, It seems, it seems these officials are just too busy or just shrug off their shoulders saying, What do I care?

You see, days just after a female believed to be one of the Magsaysay express girls who was found dead due to stab wounds inside of a room in one of the motels along the red light district of this summer capital, another untoward incident happened.

A security guard was shot dead while walking early evening of Feb. 15 in front of the former popular Marosans Restaurant and Bakery which is just a stone’s throw away from a police precinct. As usual the unidentified suspect was nowhere when responding policemen arrived. There according to my bubwit, the dead victim lay sprawled on the pavement while some policemen tried to look for a witnesses among the kibitzers who could give leads on identity of the suspect.

As narrated by my bubwit, he was inside the said police precinct when they heard a single gunshot from outside. They went out but noticed nothing untoward, hence they went again inside but minutes later someone came rushing and told the policemen that somebody was shot nearby.

At this point, although the police precinct was just a stone’s throw away from the incident, it was not under their area of jurisdiction but it was for Compact 1 or the market police precinct under BCPO station 7 while a few steps away from that particular area is under the jurisdiction of BCPO Station 2.

Under this circumstance where responsibilities of policemen is based on the zoning plan of the barangays then I guess this would eventually lead to confusion of the police and to the public. I could not imagine a police precinct who should always do their job but don’t want top do it because they are not in their area of jurisdiction though it is their mandate to be on call of duty regardless of their assigned AOR (Area of responsibility).

It is more appropriate and proper for authorities to revise the existing areas of jurisdiction and define more appropriate boundaries of responsibility for policemen assigned particularly at lower and upper Magsaysay Avenue Bonifacio St., T. Alonzo St., Hanger St., Upper Burgos and Dagohoy St.

As a saying goes, “nothing is impossible under the moon. If we want it, we could do it. Kung gusto, maraming paraan. Kung ayaw, maraming dahilan!