It’s not as bad as the headlines are painting it to be. The country is not in tatters. Despite a spate of killings including that of Fr. Richmond Nilo, people are still walking freely on our streets. Unlike in Venezuela or Nicaragua, violent street protests have not erupted to levels wished for by anti-government groups. Despite the spike in prices of some goods and services, the malls and other favored destinations are still crowded with people. Traffic gridlock remains a way of life specially in Metro Manila and other urban areas like Cebu. With the advent of the rains, flooded areas continue to hog the evening news. President Duterte continues to spew his favorite words and opposition leaders keep on bashing him for the slightest of reasons. We just had a muted celebration of Independence Day highlighted yet again by divisive, even incendiary, rhetoric. But no visible signs of active protest and desperation are in the air.
Sure, prices of basic commodities have been rising. The peso has hit an all-time 14-year low which has, not too surprisingly, somehow sparked a surge in foreign direct investments. While merchandise exports have leveled off, imports of capital goods continue to rise. Apparently, manufacturers specially of items needed for the administration’s much-touted Build, Build, Build program are bracing for brisk sales ahead. Maybe, they have been issued purchase orders last year which now have to be delivered. Not to be outdone, Budget Secretary Ben Diokno has actually warned government officials and their contractors and suppliers to go ahead full blast with their funded projects—otherwise, they may not get any kind of increase in this year’s budget round. Worse, they may even get a cut and their unspent monies by the end of the first semester may be impounded. Indeed, despite all the testy give and take, including exaggerated, even faked, accounts of the most depressing or worrisome developments in this benighted land, life goes on.
The sky is not falling this side of the Pacific. The South China/West Philippine Sea remains open to international shipping despite continued Chinese expansion of their occupied islands. Our fishermen can still fish in Panatag albeit under the shadow of Chinese Coast Guard vessels and a flotilla of Chinese fishermen. Is it not possible for us to have our own Coast Guard vessel stay within the area and guard our folks? If not, can we at least organize weekly minimum of 30 to 50 banca fishing expeditions to Panatag so that we cannot be bullied by the Chinese at all? Or, at the very least have the US Navy or other allies do pass by drills near the disputed areas to restrain the Chinese from any bullying? Indeed, instead of crying and blabbering about Chinese incursions in the disputed areas and doing nothing to reinforce and fortify our own occupied isles in the open seas, why don’t we come out with more creative ways to secure our piece of the action? That way we maintain a modicum of peace no matter how uneasy and stability in those areas.
And, as has been our wont for years on end without any serious repercussions, be content with what we have. But precisely this state of affairs, of life appearing to be just fine in most parts of the archipelago, is what’s driving certain sectors and individuals who should know better to paroxysm of angst bordering on incredulity.
They better get used to these things. The way I look at it, majority of our people have seen even worse things happening before yet managed to stand up and move on. There is virtue in knowing what you can and cannot do under certain circumstances, riding the wave, so to speak, and coping with what is dealt us. There is a unique Filipino trait which, as an international survey firm once noted, can best describe our smiles and happy disposition as compared with other races going through similar trying circumstances—resiliency. Making do with what we have and working hard to make things better is a trait we should internalize as we move on united in the hope that there is a better future ahead of us as a nation. Focusing on the negative no matter how insignificant, fueling divisive tendencies and openly calling for this administration’s downfall if one cannot get his way can only expose those practicing it as insensitive and un-Filipino. Maybe even inhuman, un-Christian and, yes, coming from another planet. Tsk..tsk..tsk..
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PNP Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde and his boys better work double time to get to the killers not only of the three priests, the Davao Norte journalist and the CamSur judge but all the other killings of civilians which have spiked over the first month of his administration.
Our people will understand the spate of killings related to the ongoing and intensified war on drugs despite the charge of some sectors of overkill. Drug trafficking and usage should really be eradicated to the barest minimum. But civilian killings? That is another matter. What makes these killings truly condemnable is the seeming ease with which the killers have done their worst. It is as if having guns and doing away with murder can be done at will. Citizen vigilance and active involvement in keeping the peace and, perhaps more importantly, police visibility which were the hallmarks of the first year of this administration have all but vanished into thin air. What seems to be the problem?
In any event, there is no reason for the police not to be able to respond responsibly and calm the waters, so to speak. They have in their arsenal all the possible weapons to combat this percolating danger in our midst—from information and education campaigns to community mobilization to rigorous intelligence work and calculated decimation of the killing nexus, if we may call it such.
For one, they must have a listing of all hot spots, notorious killing groups and other killing data in their files. They must also have a listing of protectors and/or associates of these killers in which case they can trace their roots, so to speak, down to the littlest details. That should give them enough ammunition to make things happen, calm the waters and restore public confidence in their ability to keep the peace.
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Our prayers for the repose of the soul of our colleague, Congressman Roilo ‘Roy’ Golez, and sincerest condolences to the family he left behind. A true-blue soldier and public servant he died with his boots on having made available his knowledge of geopolitics and governance to the public and to those still in the service to the very end. He will be sorely missed.
Our prayers and condolences as well to the family of the late Laoag City Mayor Michael Farinas who made Ilocos Norte’s capital one of the most livable cities in the country. Clean and peaceful, vibrant with spanking new roads, new malls and housing developments, Laoag City under him and his wife, Chevyl, the current mayor was on its way to notching yet another level of achievement when he died. Sayang.