The threat within

The first thing my friend saw was the last thing he expected; a construction worker with a big knife in hand and murder in his mind. This was a shock! Yes, a shock, because he was living in a gated community where business giants live, where they play polo and golf nearby, where armed guards held outsiders at bay and denied entry to anyone until a resident gave the clearance. But here in front of him was this outsider swinging and stabbing with a knife. All my friend could do was parry, fight and defend himself until the attacker finally chose to quit and get away.

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Bad things don’t happen in a gated community. The walls are high, the lights are on, it’s safe. What the family did not count on was not too far from their home, a bunch of “construction workers” were flying higher on drugs and alcohol. Yes, they were in a gated community but so were the drug-alcohol laden criminals intent on ransacking their homes and raping the women. It went on for hours and the security guards at the gate and their motorcycles doing the rounds were totally clueless of the horrors the family would endure.

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Krystalle Kae Davantes thought she would be safe once she passed the gates. She wasn’t because the threat, the enemy was within. Her attackers had come in before her. She did not know them and they didn’t know her. It was not about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was robbery with murder.

In our security conscious society, we spend billions of pesos putting up gated communities, high walls, steel gates, CCTV cameras, armed security guards, we hire tanods or create little hamlets within barangays complete with watchmen and form fragmented street associations. Some even have attack dogs, barbed wire fences and walls crowned with glass shards, believing that this will keep the criminals out and serve as a deterrent. We are so busy keeping the enemy outside the walls but ignorantly or foolishly miss or forget about the threat within.

Time and time again we hear of people being murdered, raped or robbed by criminals who were inside our comfort zone or ring of imagined safety. The killers, robbers, rapists or attackers were from within: construction workers, vendors, helpers, even company employees in offices that have rented houses in villages. They are not hardcore criminal gangs but people who commit crimes because the opportunity presented itself, or because they have the advantage of disappearing into anonymity without leaving a lot of leads.

Several times I have written about the need for a law among Barangays and attached police units to impose a rule that all transient personnel such as construction workers, service crews, employees of businesses and the likes must register at the Barangay in the area. I have long suggested that non-permanent resident should be listed, photographed, finger printed at the local barangay for security purposes.

The point for the requirement is that the barangay would have a file/ information on all temporary residents, workers in the barangay which will help authorities monitor population, activities, as well possible security concerns. In the event or accidents, calamity, or commission of a crime occurs, the barangay would know who to account for, track down or contact next of kin, etc. Knowing that the local authorities have a file on you would be an added deterrent to any person with criminal intent while criminals would surely opt to stay clear of an area that could ID them.

The fact that several drug laboratories, drug dens, and brothels have been busted inside exclusive or gated communities already tell us that barangay officials, attached police units and security personnel are very lax about monitoring who goes inside their jurisdiction and what type of people they are.

Unfortunately many of us arrogantly feel insulted or harassed when the “Sekyu” or Tanod checks our cars and credentials and every time we do this we chip away their confidence and authority to do what we expect them to do for our protection!

It is clear that we must now spend as much effort at reducing or eradicating the potential threat from within because there is no wisdom in putting up all the barriers while accompanying the enemy through the front door!

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There is something fundamentally wrong when tipsters step up to parlay information about a crime in exchange for millions of pesos while the victims’ family gets nothing and has to live with their loss, the legal, medical and funeral expenses. I sincerely appreciate the fact that no less than the Office of the President volunteered a million and a half pesos for information leading to the arrest of the murderers of Kristelle Davantes.  It was an answer to many of our prayers since nowadays, police work seems to improve more whenever a million plus pesos bounty is put up.

Of course it also raises doubts on the authenticity of the alleged tipsters and the professionalism of Law enforcement as well as fears that the Office of the President can’t stop what it started or are they counting on the idea that cops and tipsters would be too intimidated or embarrassed to collect money from PNoy?

I have always been against the “Bounty” system because it is easily subject to abuse. I’m also against it because I know of a time when all you needed was the ultimatum of a Mayor to the Chief of Police to “Get the criminals in 48 hours or else!” Or Else meant, the police chief would be in disgrace or busted down to patrolman duties.

In case you weren’t born yet, I remember how many horrific murder and rape cases in the 1970s were solved by way of an “Or Else” because it was an insult and a disgrace to Mayors and Chiefs of Police that a criminal or a gang would stain their city’s reputation. City Police departments also had fraternal organizations that took pride in their work and what they stood for.

I believe it is also criminal when a mere handful of so-called human rights activists and leftists are allowed to block or sabotage the proposed law for a National Identification System that could immensely improve crime investigation work in the entire country by creating a Nationwide data bank of all Filipinos that can be referenced with for finger print identification, DNA as well as other important biometrics.

Judging from public opinion as well as potential usefulness for identification and transactions there is an overwhelming number of Filipinos who support the establishment of a National ID System.

Those who oppose it are a very, very, small minority who are fully convinced that the government is evil and that anonymity is to their advantage. In order for the National ID system to be established we need to show our support for it and if need be, put it up for referendum in the coming Barangay elections.

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