Good thing that President Aquino finally stepped in and ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a probe on the Atimonan, Quezon incident wherein 13 people were killed at a combined military and police checkpoint last Sunday.

PNoy, who is a gun enthusiast and very familiar with target or shooting engagements in the firing range, does not believe that the victims open fired first at the police and military personnel manning the said checkpoint.

The President also said that several standard operating procedures were not followed by the cops on the ground such as they were in civilian clothes, had no marked police vehicle visible in the said checkpoint, and the absence of signage that it was a police checkpoint.

Good thing that Pnoy has some knowledge of police and military operations. I heard that he learned all this knowledge when he used to hang around with members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) personnel when his mom was the president of the country.

With the President on top of the investigation of the Atimonan incident, families of the victims can now be assured that they will be given justice and soon.

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Responsible and licensed gun owners were delighted upon hearing on national TV that the President said he is against a total gun ban.

A group advocating a gunless society last week called for a total gun ban in the country claiming that dozens were already killed by guns since the beginning of the year.

The President, who is a known gun lover, disagrees with the group by saying that it will be more difficult if civilians will not be allowed to carry guns to protect them from lawless elements.

Mr. Aquino proposes that a tougher law with a tougher sanction should be created and implemented in the country rather than disarming responsible and legitimate gun holders.

PNoy is right. Most, if not all, firearms used in criminal activities are unlicensed and are being used by criminal elements. So, why punish even the responsible gun owners with a total gun ban law?

After all, there is a saying, “if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.”

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Trigger happy?
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in a press conference early this week said he has ordered an investigation on Supt. Hans Marantan’s record after the said officer was found out to have been involved in four reported shoot-out incidents claiming over 40 lives during the past few years.

Marantan is said to have coordinated with the Army to set-up a check point in a sparsely populated highway in Atimonan, Quezon killing 3 PNP men, 2 AFP personnel, an environmentalist, and seven others.

Col. Marantan claims that those killed were all guns for hire and fired at them first. However, Roxas and the President do not buy his allegations.

Marantan was the team leader when four young men were killed in 2005 in Ortigas, Pasig by policemen. He said those men were members of a carjacking syndicate and chose to shoot it out with them instead of giving up when they were cornered.

Three years ago, he was the ground commander when several alleged hold-up men were killed in Paranaque when police swooped down a neighborhood believed to be the hideout of the suspects.

An innocent father and daughter were killed by stray bullets during the alleged firefight. But residents claim that Marantan and his men open fired on the house of the suspects.

And just last year, eight suspected carnappers were killed also in a checkpoint in Candelaria, Quezon by Marantan and his men. He said the suspects opened fire at their checkpoint.

If Marantan is not trigger happy, what is he then?...a psychopath!!!

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