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Robbers fatally shot and killed nine Laguna bank employees in the
head in what could be the most gruesome episode in the
Philippines’ history of bank heists. A tenth victim, the manager
of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. branch in Cabuyao town,
eventually died from his wounds.
Two days later, a lone gunman open-fired at
several houses in Calamba City, killing eight and injuring six
others. Among the dead and injured are children aged 4 to 17 years
old.
These are senseless, senseless deaths.
It wouldn’t scare me enough to prevent me from
going to the bank or sleeping soundly at night, but I would
definitely feel safer if authorities catch the insane people behind
these grisly crimes.
It is worrying that these incidents could start
a trend similar to those massacres in the 1990s.
Admittedly, there are not too many sensational
cases like the slaughters in Laguna.
In fact, the Philippine National Police is
convinced that the crime rate in the country has been on a downward
trend since 2005.
Records of the Directorate for Investigation and
Detective Management indicated that there were 39,261 cases recorded
for the first quarter of last year, a 7 percent decline from the
45,964 recorded in 2005.
The volume of index crimes like murder,
homicide, assaults, theft, robbery and rape are also on a downtrend
as well as the monthly crime rate.
The police released these statistics following a
Social Weather Station survey in September last year indicating that
one in every 10 Filipino families has been a victim of crime.
The same survey showed that 8.9 percent of
Filipino families have been victimized by robbers and thieves and
another 1.8 percent were assaulted even as it acknowledged that the
numbers are lower than the 14.9 percent in August 2004.
What’s disturbing about these numbers is
exactly that they are numbers.
Not too long ago there was a rash of
late-in-the-night car burglaries in the Quezon City compound I live
in. The homeowners association pooled together to employ a guard
because the police couldn’t trace who the perps were.
I’ve had my earring snatched, bag(s) slashed,
wallet stolen over the years I was commuting across the metropolis.
I’ve seen a woman robbed of her cell phone right in front of a
police detachment in broad daylight. The Significant Other had two
cell phones stolen in the last six months.
These experiences are among the reasons why a
downtrend in national statistics provides little solace.
That there are fewer law-abiding citizens being
victimized by crimes does not erase the fact that there are
law-abiding citizens being victimized by crimes.
For sure the police will not stop until they get
the perps behind the bloody Cabuyao bank heist and the Calamba
shooting spree. Both these episodes are too sensational not to
resolve.
But what about the smaller, less exceptional
kind? You know, the type that does not make it to primetime news?
___
Retired military chief Hermogenes Esperon has
been appointed as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
Uh, congratulations to him I guess.
I don’t understand, though, how a Army general
notorious for his alleged involvement in the “Hello, Garci”
scandal was given such a sensitive post.
But if the goal is to hasten the peace talks,
then, go ahead, bring as many generals in the picture as you can.
That would do wonders in building up confidence with the MILF.
___
Government chief negotiator Rodolfo Garcia wants
Malaysia to relax the procedures governing the Philippines peace
talks with the MILF in an attempt to hasten the pace of the
negotiations.
Under existing procedures, the government and
the MILF can only communicate through Malaysia, which serves as
facilitator in the talks.
Garcia wants Malaysia to relax this procedure so
both panels can communicate directly.
He also wants Malaysia to relax the
confidentiality clause so that government can start informing the
public about the progress in the negotiations.
Well, Garcia has acknowledged that
government’s efforts in familiarizing and consulting affected
communities as “inadequate.”
Looks like government is gearing for a major PR
war.
johnnavg@hotmail.com
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