Even where I am, where the justice system is well-respected, it is hard to get people to testify in crimes, unless they are closely related to the victim or have an overriding interest in having the crime solved.
That is why the pursuit of crimininals, the search for leads and the gathering of evidence are tasks that fall largely in the hands of the police, which are sometimes criticized for being inordinately intrusive and meticulous but are generally highly respected.
What complicates the recent cases in Tagbilaran is the fear that if you are rich enough to hire somebody to fell a rich man, as in the case of Taray, you can do the same to any Juan de la Cruz who dares to point you out. (I was surprised that you could actually pay someone a piddling PESO 15,000 to kill somebody, as a recent case in neighboring Cebu shows.)
In the more recent case, based on Pnp's account, Englishman Martin seems to have had previous run-ins with the Panglao police (the vaunted 'tourist police'), the very same persons we expect to solve these crimes.
Interestingly, Panglao is such a small place to be coddling such elusive criminals that even the 5-year-old case of Vivian Dumaluan is still in limbo.
Unless we see a decisive action and a dramatic resolution of these cases anytime soon, Bohol will soon lose its luster as a tourist haven and become a haven for criminals instead.
Kalooy nato!
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=18653.0