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As it turns out, the Intramuros area of Manila is a Kingdom of
Darkness. There are overlords there who are above the law, hidden
from the law or lawless. Intramuros Administrator Ana Maria
“Bambi” Harper has found this out not at leisure but under
threat of her life.
What is going on? Criminal activities like drug
pushing and illegal construction for businesses on the walls and
promontories which deface the heritage aspects of the Intramuros
District. These are aside from the proliferation of informal
settlers that cause traffic obstruction, live in unsanitary
conditions in their illegal dwellings and are guilty of illegal
vending on sidewalks, streets and wherever else they feel like
conducting business.
Meanwhile schools in the area are under siege.
Not only are their students’ morals threatened by drugs and
prostitution but the environment of disorder, lawlessness and
unsanitary condtions is a danger to their day-to-day health. At the
very least, Intramuros in its present state of anarchy is an
uncomfortable place for schools and students.
The concessionaires who have conducted their
business in illegal structures—and perhaps are engaged in illegal
business activities—owe the Intramuros Administration millions of
pesos. Their contracts are up and they have been requested to take
down their illegal structures and pay their arrears. Instead, they
asked for Temporary Restraining Orders when suits are filed against
them for non-payment. When the TRO has been denied, as in the case
of a concessionaire named Amado Cruz, and the judge in the Manila
Regional Trial Court suggests a meeting of the minds between the
parties, Cruz breaks off negotiations after one meeting. Instead
there is a sudden picketing of the Intramuros Administration, the
picketers crying against rumors of eviction where this same Amado
Cruz is seen among the crowd. Since the demonstrators could be part
of a rent-a-crowd business and they assail what is not a fact, the
circumstantial evidence points at picketing as a new form of
negotiation by Cruz. Then there are the death threats that Ms.
Harper has received. These are the facts. They are now just dots but
it is not illogical to connect these dots.
Meanwhile, a Manila Congressman, Amado Bagatsing,
has filed a bill in Congress to return Intramuros to the local
government of Manila. Considering the lawlessness and disorder in
the area right now, as well as the City of Manila’s having to
contend with Baseco, Tondo, Binondo and multiple other depressed
areas, there seems to be more than meets the eye in this bill.
During the bills’ committee hearing the Intramuros Administration
representative was not given the chance to be heard. But Congressman
Bagatsing makes sure he is heard by delivering an impassioned speech
in front of the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros (with the
audience made up of the above mentioned characters) on why
Intramuros should go back to the City of Manila local government. Is
this democracy in action, or action for something less benign?
Obviously the previous Intramuros Administrator
let things get out of hand and now it is a Kingdom of Darkness that
has to be undone. Undoing entrenched evil is much more difficult
than preventing evil in the first place. But this is the job that
Bambi Harper is stuck with. She better get some assistance,
protection and sympathy from the appointing powers and the general
public.
Intramuros is now a test case. Will a handful of
self-serving and unlawfully behaving citizens be allowed to continue
thrashing the place, not paying their obligations, threatening
law-abiding students, business concerns and even government agencies
with menace and unpeaceful and disorderly conditions? Will the law
not prevail?
These anomalies must not be allowed to continue.
It is time to bring the light to the Kingdom of Darkness, recognize
what it is and take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.
Bambi Harper needs help to put Intramuros right.
miongpin@yahoo.com
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