Too many strikes

THERE has been a lot of chatter from the provincial police leadership about its ‘two-strike’ policy, supposedly a means to curb the spate of killings in the province perpetrated by suspected guns-for-hire who have been boldly riding around on their motorbikes, shooting to death their targets, and driving away free from the crime scene.

In the first week of the year, there was an announcement from Superintendent Geraldo Roxas, chief of Police-Community Relations and spokesman of the Police Provincial Office, that Provincial Director Rosueto Ricaforte, who reinstated the policy originally laid down by his predecessor Provincial Director Percival Barba, has ordered the reshuffling of town police chiefs, including those who have supposedly fallen under the two-strike policy by the middle of this month. Last week, Chief Superintendent Franklin Bucayu, police regional director, announced his support to the policy. Ricaforte himself said some heads are about to roll.

All that remains to be seen.

So far, no one has really been relieved under the policy since its re-implementation in October under Ricaforte, not even after pronouncements that the policy would not be suspended even in the spirit of the Christmas season. The last cases of two-strike policy casualties reported were in October, still under the leadership of Barba, which were that of Chief Inspector Satur Ediong, relieved after only two months in office, who followed the same fate suffered by his predecessor Chief Inspector Ferdinand de Asis in Tayug.

Meanwhile, the killings, which Ricaforte himself admitted to have been on the rise since October prompting him to restore the policy, continue. Police reports indicate several were committed in December.

In July last year, Chief Supt. Orlando Mabutas, then head of the regional police, said the Pangasinan police’s two-strike policy may not be the right tactic in addressing the situation.  He opined that intensified investigation to identify and arrest the perpetrators would probably be the better approach. This is something to consider, especially in light of the apparent hesitation to actually implement the policy and a question on its actual effectiveness.

After the police chief heads roll, if they indeed do, will we finally see a decline, or better yet the end, of the violent shootings?

We have heard enough talk, the public is waiting for actions and a real solution.

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