By VEN C. ARIGO and MIKE ORTEGA LIGALIG

Gov. Edgar M. Chatto on the 116th Philippine Independence Day celebration Thursday honored two Bohol town police chiefs and called the two fallen law enforces “modern heroes for Bohol's fight against illegal drugs and criminalities.” Rallying the Boholano people to help the police in the war against the worsening illegal drug problem in Bohol, Chatto in his speech said that Police Chief Inspector George Salcedo Caña and Senior Police Officer 1 Noel Romagos “have shown to us how to be selfless and courageous in the fight against illegal drugs and criminality in our province,” adding the two police chiefs deserve to be remembered as “modern heroes who have helped Bohol free from criminality.” Until the day they were killed the two town police chiefs had led many successful crackdowns of illegal drugs, which have been blamed on the rising incidents of heinous crimes in this tourist-favorite island province.

The Ubay town police chief Caña, 47, was ambushed and killed Saturday night while driving his pick-up car in Barangay Balintawak, Talibon. Assassins pumped with bullets, consuming the whole magazine of M-16 rifles, the face of Caña, rendering his face beyond recognition and reconstruction. Following the shocking murder of Caña, well-loved by fellow police officers and the community here, Bohol PNP director Col. Dennis Palo Agustin immediately ordered a hot-pursuit operation against Caña's attackers, and last Sunday morning at a resort in Bien Unido town, Bohol, six of them were killed during a shootout with police forces after the suspects rejected an offer of a peaceful surrender. Danao town PNP chief, Romagos, on the other hand, was killed last May 2 in Barangay Sta. Fe, Danao while waiting for his wife outside a cousin's house. He was shot dead by assassins who pretended to be asking road directions. Agustin has said the killers of Romagos and Caña may be linked to the same group of illegal drug traders. “We cannot allow a small group of criminals to sow terror in Bohol,” said Chatto, who led provincial officials here today in bestowing two posthumous awards on Caña and Romagos, whose grieving families were attending the honoring rites which coincided the 116th celebration of Philippine Independence Day here. Social Welfare and Development Sec. Dinky Soliman, Bohol's guest of honor during the commemoration of Filipinos' freedom, has also recognized the horrible effects of illegal drugs, rallying the local authorities here to set up a child protection council in every barangay to protect the youth from the influence of the dreaded substance.

RELENTLESS WAR AGAINST ILLEGAL DRUGS

The governor, who chairs the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), echoed during his weekly Friday morning media forum his own order at the very instance of Caña's execution that there should be “no let-up in the fight against criminality, particularly illegal drugs.” The “drug war shall have no fear, a lot of passion,” Chatto said. A day after the gang fell, Camp Dagohoy reported the surrender to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Cebu of an alleged Rosales top aide named Troy dela Torre, who is from Talibon like his slain master. Chatto believed that criminal elements resorted to violence because “they must have now felt the heat” of the serious drive against drug trafficking and other leading crimes. “Our salute to police officers Caña and Romagos” and “and all our men and women who keep fighting fearlessly” to maintain public order and safety and sustain the gains of peace, the governor said in paying them tribute during capitol's monthly Monday convocation. Led by Chatto and Vice Gov. Concepcion Lim, the provincial officials and workers posed in a moment of silence and offered prayer for the eternal rest of the fallen police officers.

In the 116th Independence Day commemoration on Thursday at Plaza Rizal in Tagbilaran City, the governor also led in posthumously honoring the fallen police officers in the presence of their surviving loved ones. Chatto commended the leadership of Bohol PNP director, Col. Dennis Agustin, and for the swift capture of the Rosales gang, also cited the Camp Dagohoy intelligence group led by CInsp. Alvin Futalan and his deputy, SInsp. Jojit Mananquil, SInsp. Roland Deseree Lavisto of SWAT, NBI-7 headed by SSupt. Pablo Labra and Bien Unido police led by SInsp. Jodel Torregosa. In the SangguniangPanlalawigan, Board Members Gerardo Garcia and Tomas Abapo, Jr. caused a resolution asking Agustin and the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officer in Bohol to update the capitol legislature next Friday on the crime condition of the province, foremost of which involving drug peddling. The board passed another measure in posthumous tribute to the slain Ubay and Danao police chiefs while proposing a scholarship to the children of law enforcers who die in their faithful drive against drugs. Chatto amplified his rally for all communities and sectors to join and support the eradication of drug menace in an unyielding crusade for a drug-free province.

The law enforcement agencies and other pillars of the criminal justice system have been ably supported by the province, including cash awards through the intelligence fund. Just months ago, the PPOC led by the governor conferred Caña a recognition as one of Bohol's top performing town police chiefs. The governor ordered Agustin a “no let-up manhunt” of the murderers as soon as he learned of Caña's ambush-killing while the police chief was driving his car in Talibon going to Ubay. Some other suspects surrendered during the police encounter with the Rosales group while there were those who were pursued and netted in San Miguel. The governor sped to Talibon on Sunday and met with the mayor and chief of police there while in constant contact with Agustin as he also visited Cana's wake and provided support to the police officer's family. In the case of Danao police chief Romagos' murder in May, the governor had himself gone to the area and investigated. “Wars are won by conditioning our minds not to fear and to keep on fighting,” Chatto stressed. The governor said “lawless elements are few against our strength as a vigilant people, but we need to mobilize for greater collective action.” He underscored the need to drive the people into moving and acting together as “we all harp on the successes of those engaged in support of clearing society from violence and ills.”

CRIME DOES NOT PAY

The swift capture of Rosales and his underworld toughies---dead or alive---has proved that “crime does not pay” and served as “a warning to those who are already on the same path,” Bien Unido Mayor Niño Rey Boniel said in an official statement. “To the men in uniform, we entrust our confidence,” the mayor said while vowing not to stop in his town the campaign against drugs. He is “hopeful” that as justice for Caña has been quickly served with the fall of his slayers, drug activities can end. Chatto said being the first province in the country to launch the Killing-Free Philippines movement last February, “we are against killing and has thus precisely condemned in highest degree” Caña's execution by drug criminals. While the crusading police officer's murder “must have no justification,” his comrades in uniform, notably those who ran after and finished Caña's killers, “are armed because they are mandated to defend the society,” the governor said.

In a live DYRD interview---which turned out to be his last public statement--- a day to his murder, Caña, who hailed from Quezon province, recited in closing the interview the last line of the Bohol Hymn, “Ihalad ko, lawas ug kalag, sa mutya kong Bohol” in order to free Bohol from the clout of rampant proliferation of illegal drugs. Caña's last words, uttered a day before he was killed in ambush, sent many radio listeners to the valley of tears. According to several sources, Caña was a well-loved police officer wherever he was assigned. People have described Major Caña as a “humble, honest, brave, courageous and hard-working police officer.” “His last words were a fitting challenge from a police officer ‘who defended the Boholanos and died para sa mutya tang Bohol, who died a Boholano by heart,'” Chatto said.