Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jan 2005
Source: Mindanao Times (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005 Mindanao Times.
Contact:  http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2980
Author: Tony Vn. Figueroa
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)

IMPATIENCE

AMERICAN poet Marianne Moore (1887-1972) could not have been more accurate 
when she said that an "impatience is the mark of independence, not of bondage."

Independence from the rule of law, that is.

In a society that purports to uphold the rule of law, the litter of dead 
bodies and the pools of blood that keep the city streets on pins and 
needles have become so condescendingly unacceptable that every time another 
bullet is implanted on the head of a suspected drug addict the civilization 
we so proudly raise in honor is destroyed irreparably.

Since 1997 when the summary killers first showed up, over 300 unsolved 
extra-judicial murders crimes have been filed in police blotters. 
Disgustingly, we have yet to see a vigilante killing being conclusively 
resolved in our court.

If the killing of people is a sign of impatience, then those behind such 
heinous act should have lost every piece of moral authority to lead. 
Promoting peace by using uncultured ways is not a sign of impatience; it is 
a manifestation of brutality.

Amazingly, amid the breakdown of law, the Church - the local church, that 
is - has remained unperturbed by the deaths that have earned us the label 
as "murder capital." If the measure of Church vigilance was the short-lived 
reaction of the bishopric months ago against city hall's wayward ways, that 
retort failed to prosper because the local ecclesiastical hierarchy showed 
little showed little resolve and courage in pursuing the fight to the hilt.

Even the police, which have doubtless an interesting part in the whole 
deathly exercise, have been content with being called a useless entity. For 
how best would you label a law enforcement agency that cannot seem to 
understand what to do and where it is going in regard to the high-profile 
headline-hogging murders that keep the city dangerously alive?

If those who are gunned down by cops, who are aptly called by the press as 
"death squad," are social pests, why not start eliminating corrupt city 
government workers whose involvement in every form of graft is publicly 
known? Unless being dishonest is a plus factor.

If the financiers of the summary executions believe that by instilling 
terror in the public consciousness they have succeeded in removing or 
minimizing crime, they are altogether wrong. Each time a murder is 
registered, another crime makes it to the blotter. And with each unsolved 
slay rested at the archives, police credibility or whatever is left of it 
is securely destroyed.

It's hard to believe that amid the horror of deaths that stalks the 
headlines the police leadership has continued to deny the existence of a 
vigilante group. By this alone, the participation of law enforcers has 
become indefensible such that the only way to keep away from the heat is to 
assume even if lamely that some of the cops are not directly involve in the 
killings.

Oddly enough, the regional human rights commission that is supposed to 
protect the public from any form of civil violation has been 
inconspicuously silent. And it has been living with that quiescence with 
some satisfaction. Curiously, its former head, for being convulsively 
passive, was amply rewarded a higher position in the same hierarchy.

No one knows when the killings will stop. What is sure though is that more 
lives will be nipped in the bud because those who keep the financial tap 
flowing believe that the killing suspects makes the city safe and keeps the 
delinquents off the streets.

Even if it means spitting on what is lawful and violating what is godly, 
ethical and civil.

Greek playwright Sophocles aptly describes the status of the local 
leadership in so few words: "When you cannot enforce, do not command."
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