Cebu's too many killings

THE magnitude of killings in Cebu — the province and its three highly urbanized cities — has not gone unnoticed by Cebuanos. Sure, the total population is more than 5 million of which over 50 percent live within Metro Cebu, many in crowded urban poor communities. Crime — pickpocketing, akyat bahay, swindling, drug peddling, armed robberies, gun-for-hire — is an income-generating venture for many. Cebu is also the top destination for foreign remittances in connection with online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, another horrific crime. While poverty incidence has declined substantially according to the 2023 full-year official poverty statistics, tens of thousands of Cebuanos struggle to make ends meet for themselves and their families.

Considering all these, we shouldn't be surprised that "Cebu leads in drug war killings," as reported by Sunstar Cebu last November 17. The paper quoted the latest findings of the Dahas Project of the Third World Studies Center of UP Diliman. Of 312 reported drug-related killings in the country during the period Jan-Oct 15, 2024, 65 happened in Cebu. Thirty-seven were carried out by unidentified assailants, according to Third World Studies Center researcher Joel Ariate Jr.

RESURGENCE