And tonight we note the passing of two notable men from rural Belize District on the Old Northern Highway. The first is Gilbert Tablada, former Sergeant of police and an iconic lawman.
During the 80's, Tablada ruled the city streets with - if not an iron rod - than at least a "tambran switch". At the height of his powers, Tablada was feared and just the mention of the words, "Tablada di cohn!" in Belize City would send a whole block scrambling for cover. The Tablada Squad, or Crash Team as it was called was widely acknowledged as keeping the city streets under control up until he retired in the late 80's.
Tablada passed away at the age of 81, just as the flag was being raised at Memorial Park at 12:05 am on the 21st.
Today we spoke to his son Kent and his nephew, Minister of State Edmund Castro about the legacy of Gilbert Tablada:..
Kent Tablada, Son
"He passed late Saturday night and it was a very tragic announcement to receive, simply because we had a normal day on Saturday. I was preparing to leave back to the States and so it was bitter sweet because I knew my days with him were limited - 3 days as a matter of fact from the time I last saw him to being called from the ceremonies out there on Saturday night to go see him just lying cold in a bed. As a matter of fact he suffers from asthma, so Saturday morning he just went to the hospital to get his vital signs checked and he was release, so that has happened on numerous times, so I didn't make much of it."
Hon. Edmund Castro, Nephew
"What I was sharing with some of the people earlier yesterday and today and so on; during the time of his policing work he think he can be considered one of the nest police officer in Belize. Many youngsters and people my age and older could recall when you hear Tablada is coming, no gang boys are hanging on the streets, nobody is loitering around and so on. So he was like one-man army with his crew equivalent to that of 
the GSU today. He use to go around and keep everybody in check. Simple things like what we started to do the other day like dealing with the bicycles and so on; if you are riding up stop with your bicycle, he will tell you that you shouldn't not do this, it's against the law, but rather than take you in he will let out your air. You will have to walk the bicycle, so some of those things he use to do, a lot of people don't remember that he taught many people how to drive; he was like a national driving institute all by himself. He had his schedule in the morning that he would teach people to drive and in the evening after work. So there are many things that my uncle use to do that makes life better for us today and for the police department as an icon where people should look up to and see how a good police should behave or act."
Tablada even got his nephew Edmund Castro into the police department, first as a civilian driver, and then a training school recruit, where he was PC 189.
Tablada will be buried in Maskall Village at a date to be announced.
Email
Print