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BY OSCAR CRUZ
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Saturday, February 18, 2017
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THIS IS a sincere and ardent pleading – to gain the trust of the people, to promote the welfare of society, to affirm the pride of the country.
To say that the long since obtaining inequity in the Philippine local, regional and/or national justice system is but imagination, is reserved to people in dreamland, to those playing deaf and dumb – if not those who are immune to the reality and import of injustice usually for reason of ill-gotten temporal wealth and/or ill-obtained political power if not both thereof as some kind of a standard pairing in the country.
Such is neither a big secret nor a profound reality. Otherwise, how does one explain but the following well-known and more known glaring misdeeds that to this date and time remain unresolved – if not likewise altogether forgotten?
The Luneta Hostage Crisis – Those mercilessly gunned down were altogether innocent young and elderly foreign tourists who came to visit the Philippines, to savor Filipino hospitality, to enjoy its sights and sounds. Here and there they went in good mood and big expectations. But lo and behold, all of sudden they were held hostages in their bus by no one else than a policeman who wanted and demanded something in his favor from the government. Lo and behold many other policemen themselves came, eventually gunned him down as he gunned down the innocent helpless tourists. Thereafter, a big silence to this date and time, a big shame to the country.
The Atimonan Murders – There were the assumptions of warring gambling syndicates – or something the like. One car appeared to have been carrying a gambling lord precisely assigned to maintain public order as a law enforcer – plus others who seemed to be his colleagues. All of a sudden, the car was stopped and guns were eventually fired. While others were killed downright, the said key figure survived the murders.
The episode was hilarious enough such that no one else than the then Secretary of Justice personally went to the place, to inspect the sight, to eventually resolve the crime. But thus it began. Thus it ended. So it is that there is a big silence to this date and time.
The Maguindanao Massacre – Those were pre-election days. The campaign for and the pursuit of political power among the principal election contenders were intense and fierce. It was the blatant incarnation of the infamous triad of guns, goons, and gold. The principal contenders plus their ardent well-funded followers would not allow each others’ opposition to win the elections.
Reason: Losing downright political power and the standard wealth and prerogatives that went therewith, were in no way acceptable to the then principal contending parties.
So it was that a number of media personnel from certain agencies – together with some locals – wanting to know and record the event, went to the place. briefly said, for one reason or another, no less than 58 individuals were nonchalantly gunned down and buried together then and there where they were killed – with the use of a bulldozer or something the like. Thereafter, a big silence to this date and time.
It is wherefore consoling that unless done more for political motives than with the quest for truth, justice and peace, the sad and infamous SAF 44 Massacre appears to be now being investigated. But how long will the investigation go on, how and when will it end – that is the question./PN
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