Punchline
The bleeding hearts
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE nation is agog over the daily series of killings of drug personalities in either legitimate police operations or by vigilante groups or by armed drug syndicates, whichever the case, we are seeing people feeling relieved, feeling safer at last.
But the bleeding hearts among us have a serious problem. They feel they have to be righteous consistently by finding fault in the situation. They invoke the need to protect the human rights of the hardcore drug pushers and addicts while quietly celebrating their demise. Tsk-tsk. Believe you me, they have become a confused lot, trapped in their righteous mode, worse, for no good reason at all.
First of all, legitimate police operations are covered by well-established internal procedures that make operatives accountable. If there’s any doubt about the legitimacy of the operations, families of victims can file the complaints. The police certainly don’t need to be reminded about human rights.
Then, the vigilantes will do whatever they want. Their being anonymous should tell the bleeding hearts that they don’t give a hoot because they feel justified in their actions. So why bother telling them what to do assuming there are indeed vigilantes’ groups operating in our communities?
The armed drug syndicates are on a survival mode. They have no qualms killing members of their network whom they suspect to have snitched on them. They have no respect, no regard for any right except theirs – the right to live on blood and life of others. So why bother asking them to protect human rights of their members?
So here’s a brotherly advice that should make our brothers and sisters blessed with bleeding hearts feel happy and comfortable while being righteous: Demand that only the confirmed hardcore drug lords, pushers and addicts are eliminated! That demand should be no problem to all three since that will also make them feel justified in their actions. The bleeding hearts will be equally happy since they know their timely reminders are heeded by all.
But seriously, the presumed killings by the three should really be limited to the hardcore drug lords, pushers and addicts.
And I’m no bleeding heart. I just want all families to start feeling safe in their neighborhood. Is that asking too much?
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ALL FREEDOM, NO RESPONSIBILITIES. There is a youth group whom I suspect was formed to serve criminal syndicates’ business agenda.
The Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) reportedly together with their legal counsel, Atty. Jesus Falcis III, asked the Supreme Court to issue a certiorari and prohibition of the implementation of the curfew ordinances of the local government units of Manila, Quezon City, and Navotas on the basis of its unconstitutionality.
You read it right! They want minors to be free to defy their parents and free to do anything they want since they can’t be jailed anyway.
I don’t believe the High Court will see it their way but there is a need to point out something about this move to the members of the Sangguniang Kabataan whose elections are set this year.
The move is typical of the hue and cry about preserving our freedoms, having more rights with no concomitant responsibility and accountability for the freedoms.
The group wants no restriction on minors’ movements at anytime and yet it doesn’t dare propose an alternative to curb juvenile delinquency. If that isn’t suspect, I don’t know what is.
This is a job for the new SK.
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BIG BROTHER. The proposal to have the SK abolished as far back as 10 years ago can be traced to the public perception that it has simply become a training ground for corruption.
The new SK now has the chance to redeem itself.
To counter moves of groups like SPARK, SK members must now consciously play the Big Brother role to the minors in their communities. More than just organizing sports events for themselves, they have to organize activities for the education and protection of the minors, inculcating values in them that would make them grow to become productive SK members in the future. This will require leadership by example.
It has become imperative for the new SK to take the minors under their wings. As studies already show, minors today would rather listen to big brothers than their parents. Don’t ask me why, but nobody knows this better than the parents themselves, and yes, the criminal syndicates too. Wonder no more why it has now become easier for the syndicates to recruit minors to do their bid. Fewer kids listen to their parents.
The new SK therefore should begin to man the frontline to protect the minors from the clutches of drug syndicates if it wants to. But will they be up to the challenge?
It’d be interesting to observe what platform the would-be candidates for SK leadership posts will propose to win a mandate. Will it be more of the same? More sports tournaments and nothing else? Or sports plus responsibilities to the communities, particularly the minors?
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CONTEMPTUOUS OFFICIAL CONDUCT. After 3 weeks, finally, we got some updates from the Dagupan City Agriculturist Emma Molina on the status of the remaining illegal fish pens in the city.
All that time, we could not understand why the Office of the City Agriculture had to give us the runaround for the very simple and basic information that we needed to report for the Dagupeños advice. Both Molina and Task Force Bantay Ilog head Max Solis were pointing to each other as the source of the simple information we needed. Since nobody was willing to talk, the message we got was: “Our lips are sealed!”
Consequently, all the attempts to keep the basic information secret needlessly fanned speculations that some city government officials are on the take.
But while the information is finally out, the actuations and attempts of Molina to keep the information away from the media is contemptuous, to say the least. If she refused to divulge the needed information for fear of incriminating herself as a failed gatekeeper, she only made matters worse not only for herself but for the Fernandez administration that promised full accountability and transparency.
She was already making people believe that the Fernandez administration was already beholden to the unscrupulous businessmen who pollute the city’s river system with impunity. Worse, word was already getting around that Mayor Belen is part owner of the illegal fish pens.
Anyway, here’s the bad news for the City Agriculture Office! The PUNCH will continue to keep track of the status of the city’s river until it has confirmation that all the illegal fish pens are gone for good. (Meanwhile, Councilor Jigs Seen should again file an amendment to include penal provision and fine for violation of any of the city’s fishery ordinances. Why these were not included in the last amendment is beyond me. Was there a hidden agenda for it?).
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Our Erfe clan just lost our matriarch, our great grandmother, Paciencia Erfe-Verzosa (Lola Pacing to us) in San Fabian. She passed away early afternoon last Friday, July 22. She would have turned 101 next year. She was cremated on Saturday July 23 and interred at the columbarium inside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Chapel at the San Fabian Parish Church the same day. She was the last of her generation’s era.
Lola Pacing is survived by her children Eliseo, Lea, Noel, Oscar and Lope.
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