AS A FORMER footballer I am enraged at the murder of 21-year-old Far Eastern University (FEU) footballer Keith Absalon and his cousin Nolven, including serious injuries to the latter’s minor son, all courtesy of a command-detonated improvised explosive device (landmine) planted by the New People’s Army (NPA) in Masbate.
Despite the sugar-coating and downplay, mainstream media cannot hide the fact that the government is right in its campaign to crush this terrorist organization with no concern for innocent lives. It is quite obvious that mainstream media downplays this atrocity because they hate President Duterte.
I’m waiting for Sara Elago of the party-list Kabataan to condemn the killing of Absalon. You are supposed to represent the interest of the Filipino youth and this young footballer is your constituency. Would it be too much to ask the so-called Makabayan bloc in Congress to condemn this atrocity?
Take note folks, it was a command-detonated explosive device, a favorite weapon of the NPA; it explodes or is set off by control or command so any lame explanation that it got set off or exploded by accident will not be acceptable.
According to the International Humanitarian Law, the use of landmines of any kind is supposed to be prohibited as it does not distinguish between a combatant and a non-combatant.
It is also noteworthy that only the NPA and other terrorist groups use this kind of explosives and not conventional armed forces.
Going a little further checking out the pictures of Keith Absalon’s corpse, there is one glaring fact standing out. He wasn’t just killed by the NPA, he was also shot point blank in the face to make sure he’s dead.
I’m starting to wonder whether Keith Absalon might have pissed off the local NPA honcho bearing in mind that it was the perfect ambush assassination and circumstances seemed to point that it was all deliberate and not accidental.
Do we hear any church bells ringing?
Recall Archbishop Socrates Villegas and his ringing of church bells for 15 minutes for three months and lighting of candles because of the so-called killing of drug pushers and addicts in President Duterte’s drug wars.
It seems the church bells are silent for the victims of atrocities by the NPA. Hypocrisy at the highest level.
And do we see or hear of the so-called running priest Robert Reyes running around Metro Manila for the innocent victims of NPA atrocities? No.
I’m sure none of that will happen these days. Fr. Robert Reyes prefers to run around, banging the windows of motels, disturbing the guests and inflicting coitus interruptus.
Any journalists worth their salt are fully aware that when someone dies because he/she was hit by a truck, shot or in a bomb/landmine explosion, it is always described as “killed by a speeding truck”, “killed by a rouge policeman” or “killed by an IED or landmine”.
And when someone dies from old age or a lingering illness, you say “passed away because of ripe old age” or “passed away because of cancer”.
To describe in your headlines that FEU footballer Keith Absalon “passes away” is the height of stupidity and hypocrisy.
The reason mainstream media is trying to downplay the murder of Keith Absalon and his cousin by the landmine planted by the NPA is that it will give more credence to the campaign of the Duterte government to destroy the NPA, and this atrocity further proves that the NPA is a terrorist organization.
And we segue to the oddities:
I read somewhere that the motley crew of 1Sambayan is set to announce their presidential candidate tomorrow, June 12, of course for dramatic effect considering that it is supposed to be Independence Day.
Ely Pamatong is the perfect standard bearer for 1Sambayan. With him they won’t lose as he has already proclaimed himself de jurre president of the Philippines. Besides, he has already appointed Antonio Carpio as Chief Justice and Antonio Trillanes IV as Defence Secretary. So there. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com)/PN)
