Tribal mentality

 

WHEN a town’s peace and order situation is deemed unstable, what are local government officials supposed to do? Initiate dialogues with the parties involved in disrupting the harmony, bring in the authorities, and assist the police in controlling or arresting if necessary those who refuse to cooperate in stabilizing the situation. Ideally, that is.

Then again, there still are local officials in the Philippines, including in Pangasinan, who hold on to their small and primitive mentality that threats of violence should be addressed with equally violent measures. And the law on possession of firearms in the country appears to be on their side because we still see the likes of Urbiztondo Mayor Ernesto Balolong Jr. who is able to have a cache of weapons, including high-powered firearms, and ammunition that will shame the weapon supply of most town police stations. Remember the images of the cache of weapons that were unearthed near one of the mansions of the notorious Ampatuan family in Maguindanao whose members are accused of one of the most gruesome massacres in Philippine history?

There is a need for a stricter law on gun possession, particularly assault weapons by anyone, especially local officials who already by virtue of their elected position hold a lot of power in the communities.

No politician is justified to build an armory that makes a police station look like a day care center. The mere claim of fear for the safety of the family is not a sensible reason to keep a cache of deadly assault firearms like those used by the government’s armed forces and will require a platoon to use them at any given time.

A local leader who cannot address the peace and order situation in his area through a civilized manner has no business sitting in his position of public service. Voters should be more intelligent than that and they have the power to put an end to the antiquated and tribal culture of guns, goons, and gold.

 

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Too late the hero

WHY he prolonged his agony was what made Ruffy Biazon’s case more nauseating than perplexing.  Biazon should have resigned irrevocably in July when P-Noy called Biazon’s Customs office as riddled with thick-faced men. P-Noy’s classic line, “Saan kayo kumukuha ng kapal ng mukha?” referring to corrupt Customs officials under Biazon’s wings, became the face of the President’s July Sona (State of the Nation Address).  The nation was surprised Biazon didn’t immediately resign irrevocably.

It took a pork barrel-related case against Biazon, filed at the Ombudsman by the Department of Justice this week, to force Biazon to finally call it quits.

What did Biazon achieve by resigning this late in the day?  Nothing.  He merely became a statistic, a meaningless casualty in P-Noy’s caravan/charade.  Had he resigned in July, maybe he would have earned some degree of admiration.  But doing it now as he did, it had zero impact.  Too late the hero.

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