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We sympathize with the parents, relatives and others
who love the three “Alabang Boys.” We sympathize also with the
officers of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) who are
being made to look bad for exposing alleged bribe attempts for the
dismissal of the case.
The three young men were arrested
in separate entrapment operations in Quezon City and Ayala Alabang
on September 20. They are detained in the PDEA jail. The Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency insists on holding them until the Department
of Justice has completed a reinvestigation of the case.
The Inquirer report on Saturday
said Richard Santos Brodett, 25, Jorge Jordana Joseph, 22 and Joseph
Ramirez Tecson, 23, have been linked by PDEA Director Gen. Dionisio
Santiago to a drug syndicate selling illegal drugs in the Metro
Manila club circuit and in Baguio City.
Santiago claimed, the Inquirer
reported, that the three belong to a drug operations network that
supplies Ecstasy to ritzy clubs and bars.
Santiago also said in a radio
program on Saturday that members of the drug group to which the
three men belong, and Tecson in particular, were engaged in
organizing concerts and other parties, which they turned into
opportunities to peddle Ecstasy and other drugs.
The Inquirer headline for this
story was: PDEA making big issue of small boys, says lawyer.
Lawyer Jacqueline Verano, the
Inquirer report by Jocelyn Uy, said, found the PDEA bribe claim
ridiculous. She is quoted as saying, “At 25 years old, to be a
supplier? It’s hard to believe they’re hardened criminals.
It’s impossible for their age.”
Verano is also quoted to have
said, “Is it possible that at these ages, they would already have
a network of buyers and be able to influence the drug market? Highly
unlikely.” Verano probably knows that Richard Santos Brodett,
Jorge Jordana Joseph and Joseph Ramirez Tecson are innocent—and
lacking in competence.
Younger people than the
“Alabang Boys” have accomplished more difficult feats than
supplying drugs to clients and organizing parties.
Some young Filipinos involved in
barangay politics have wickedly and competently manipulated
Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Jose Rizal was only 21 when he
sailed for Madrid. Before that he had written poems and essays about
the Philippine condition. He had already achieved a lot before he
turned 25
General Gregorio del Pilar was at
19 a trustworthy and competent lieutenant in the First Philippine
Republic’s army. At 22 he was a general entrusted to secure
President Emilio Aguinaldo against pursuing American troops.
Alexander the Great was only 20
when he became King of Macedon. Soon he conquered more lands than
any previous leader from Europe ever had.
In America, 9-year-old boys are
the drug lords of their own schools and neighborhoods.
In the Burmese-Thai border,
Johnny and Luther Htoo, 12-year-old twins, impressively command
“God’s Army” of Karen rebels fighting Burma’s despotic
military junta.
Three Young Men
One of the most beautiful
passages in the Bible is the Prophet Daniel’s account of the Three
Young Men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. (These are the Babylonian
names for Ananias, Azarias and Misael in Hebrew). They are bright
young Jews, favorites of King Nebuchadnezzar. They attend the school
for young nobles where they excel.
But it is reported to the King
that the three refuse to participate in pagan rituals. “If you
refuse to serve my gods and worship the golden statue I have
erected,” the great conqueror-king said, “you must be thrown
straightaway into the burning fiery furnace, and where is the god
who could save you from my power?” The three youths proclaimed
their loyalty to the One True God of Israel.
So they were thrown into the
fire. “Then King Nebuchadnezzar sprang to his feet in amazement.
‘Did we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?’ He
asked his advisers. They replied, ‘Yes, O king.’ ‘But,’ he
went on, ‘I can see four men walking about freely in the heart of
the fire without coming to any harm. And the fourth looks like a son
of the gods.’
“Nebuchadnezzar then exclaimed,
‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: He has sent
his angel to rescue his servants who, putting their trust in him,
defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god but their own.’”
The Hymn of the Three Young Men
invites all the creatures to praise God. The heavens, the angels,
the powers, the sun and moon, the stars, every shower and dew, fire
and heat, cold, hoar frost, ice and snow, nights and days, light and
darkness, lightnings and clouds, the earth, the mountains and hills,
everything growing from the earth, seas and rivers, fountains,
whales and all that move in the waters, fowls of the air, all beasts
and cattle, sons of men. All are told to bless the Lord.
“Israel, bless the Lord, praise
and exalt him forever. Priests of the Lord, servants of the Lord,
spirits and souls of the just, holy men of humble heart, bless the
Lord.”
“Ananias, Azarias and
Misael, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.”
“Let us bless the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit; let us exalt Him above all for ever.”
“Blessed are you, Lord, in the
firmament of heaven and worthy of praise, and glorious above all
forever.”
Only with this attitude will
justice and the truth be served in our land.
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