CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he had wanted to fulfill the dream of slain SP01 Adonis Dumpit of getting back his dignity following the controversies he was facing.
Osmeña said he wants to give his best policeman a decent burial because the entire city owes Dumpit for maintaining peace and order in the city in the past.
"All I want to do is make his dream come true, which is to give him back his dignity. I'll just give him a nice burial. I want the Cebuanos to show respect to him because without him, criminality was out of control. We owe it to him. He was really my best policeman," he said.
During his stint, Dumpit, a known marksman, set an example of going after going after suspects of robbery, snatching and other crimes, Osmeña said.
He was the head of the '90s crime-busting group called "Hunter Team".
"Others, the moment they went out from the prison, they run away and they don't want to stay in Cebu because they're really afraid," he said.
The mayor vowed to visit the wake of his trusted aide every day until the day of his interment.
Even when he was still in jail, Osmeña said, Dumpit had wanted to clear his name.
"He was very disoriented, demoralized when he was released. I told him I'll give you a life, just declare your guilt and you're free, you don't have an appeal pending. I said I will help you but he said he didn't like it. He thought it's not fair. He said, he wanted to get back his honor as a police officer," Osmeña said.
At the Osmeña home, where Dumpit used to stay, the mayor said his memories linger.
Osmeña said he remembered several things about Dumpit when his son Miguel showed to him a photo of them and his granddaughter.
An emotional Councilor Margot Osmeña also recalled how dedicated Dumpit was when he was still securing their family.
"This is very personal. He is part of our lives and I know that he would have taken a bullet for any of us including our granddaughter. We're really sad about this and I'm sad with the way he died. I'm sad if what they're saying is true. It's very sad how he turned to that because what we knew of him wasn't that way," she said.
Margot said every member of their household was sad about what happened to Dumpit whom they considered family.
"He was the one who was very sikat. I used to tease Tommy that when they go out they will ask for picture with Dumpit not with Tommy. He would always look down kay maowaw siya. His popularity never got into his said. If you ask the people in our house, all of them are sad. He never boasted that he was the favorite. He was always just one of them. He was just a member of the house," Margot said.
Dumpit died in an alleged shootout with operatives from the Regional Intelligence Division of Police Regional Office 7 and National Bureau of Investigation 7 in the morning of June 27,in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. (RVC)