Opinion
Dying like sitting ducks
SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH By Ernesto M. Maceda (The Philippine Star) Updated October 14, 2010 12:00 AM
Now that his shooting and billiards buddy has absolved him and kept him as DILG Undersecretary for Public Safety in charge of the PNP, maybe Rico Escalona Puno can now do his job of protecting and assuring safety for the Filipino who is being gunned down on the streets like sitting ducks in a target shooting gallery and even inside their houses from Adams, Ilocos Norte, to Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
Add the following to the long list of daily shootings: Joseph Saliba, 42, a Baptist pastor shot dead by a lone gunman in Banlat, Quezon City yesterday morning; Barangay Chairman Manuel Fajardo was murdered in Kibawe, Bukidnon; Alwen Alsado, 28, a construction worker died from multiple gunshot wounds in Payatas, Quezon City; a bike-riding tandem killed Reynante Tagorda, 38, inside a videoke bar with a .45 caliber pistol in Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur; also in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, another tandem in a motorcycle shot dead Reyno Lorenzo, 23, who was also on a motorcycle; in Bayambang, Pangasinan, Patricio Ronas, 60, was shot dead and his wife Alegria Ronas was critically wounded by armed men who barged into their house in Barangay Angkawal; two Indian nationals were found dead in Agoo, La Union and Isabela. Sabijit Singh, 23, was found in Agoo even after his father had paid a P2.2 million ransom; Subash Chander Kermarian, 33, was found dead floating in a river in Isabela; at least 2 killings a day are committed in Tondo, Manila. The same is true of Quezon City, Cavite, Cebu, Caloocan, Malabon, Albay, Abra, Davao and Negros.
Then there is the serious matter of jueteng payolas. The burly Usec Puno can start to refute charges by stopping jueteng in his neighborhood of Tarlac, Pampanga and Angeles City and nearby Nueva Ecija. He can also give some attention to weekly kidnappings in Cotabato, Zamboanga and Basilan.
How about the more than 3,000 cases of rape, lately headlined by 3 cases of gang rapes? The root cause, the easy access to illegal drugs, a problem not addressed so far after 107 days of the P-Noy administration. The other main cause – failure to collect over a million loose firearms.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) has issued a statement condemning the inaction of the PNP on the crime front.
