Murder in paradise

Last week, I reached out to my longtime friends in Boracay Island, a number of whom are professionals, business owners and even members of the provincial security force, to gather info regarding the Slovakian tourist who was found half naked and decomposing on the floor of an abandoned chapel.

Just for context, I sent out this message to one of them last Saturday: “Good pm bro. May balita ka ba sa rape-murder ng Slovakian tourist sa Boracay? Balik na naman daw ang drugs?”

My contact replied: “So sad nga. Nakaka-jolt. According to local informants, easy daw bentahan ng shabu ngayon. In the past marijuana, marami kami huli. Ngayon mukhang nakapasok ang shabu na nakakaluto ng ulo.”

(Locals claim its easy to buy shabu on the island. In the past we often catch people using marijuana, but it seems shabu has gained entry on the island. That fries peoples’ brains.)

“If what I heard is right, they arrested a tour guide as a person of interest based on photos that the victim had shared with her friends. They are still looking for his associates.” (also reported in The Philippine STAR).

“And not sure if true but unconfirmed information say that sachets and foils (aluminum foil for shabu) were found sa crime scene. This is so saddening and sobering.”

I also reached out to an “original” islander and known personality on the island, and he was as angry as upset with what happened to the Slovakian lady. With business being so slow and many tourists going to other local destinations, the suspected rape-murder incident hurts the locals in the heart and in their pockets.

But the question is, what happened to all the security and safety measures that used to be in place during the time of president Rodrigo Duterte? Back then there was a limit to the capacity of inbound tourists, all non-residents were required to undergo security screening for possible criminal records and registration.

If I remember correctly, all non-residents had some type of curfew where they were required to leave the island on the last ferry of the day. Based on my last visit, December of 2023, many transient vendors, “peddlers” and hustlers were no longer monitored or supervised, even openly harassing tourists.

With all the money collected from millions of tourists, you would think that the provincial and local governments could have invested in a professional security force for the island, complete with K-9 units to check for drugs or weapons. But instead, they leave it all to the PNP.

Is there even a dedicated speedboat ambulance for islanders and tourists? Is there an appropriate medical facility to temporarily handle medical emergencies such as strokes, heart attacks or trauma cases? Yes, there are clinics and hospitals, but tourists deserve dedicated facilities.

The fact that it took days to find the already decomposing body of the Slovakian tourist shows that the local police force is undermanned, poorly equipped and with no K-9 unit that could have helped find the missing person sooner!

I’m surprised that the secretary of Department of Tourism has not gone ballistic on the matter, given how preoccupied Malacañang has been to extradite former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the man who had the political will to clean up the garbage, sewage, criminal elements and the ecological abuses inflicted on the island of Boracay.

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The United States Navy is known to have popularized the phrase “Loose lips sink ships.” A very popular CEO in the Philippines loves to say: “Little talk, little mistake. No talk, no mistake.”

I found it incredulous that DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla was quoted as stating that the Office of the President/Bongbong Marcos paid for the use of the Lear jet that transported former president Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands.

Given how shocked and upset many Filipinos were, the last thing people expected was an open admission that PBBM’s office foot the bill, thereby making it clear that the Marcos administration was not just cooperating and handing over the subject of an Interpol notice, PBBM used taxpayers’ money to ship out Duterte.

Unfortunately, that was not all. During his interview with Pinky Webb for the program “On Point,” Remulla “generously” revealed that four men planned the arrest and extradition of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

These were: President Bongbong Marcos, Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

Unlike a storyteller laying out a spy thriller, Remulla casually told how Secretary Año gathered info on FPRRD in Hong Kong, implying they had spies with FPRRD, while Secretary Gibo Teodoro worked from his office at the DND and Remulla in Malacañang.

What was he thinking?!!! In the words of the late senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, this is clearly a case of verbal diarrhea. At a time when President Marcos Jr. was trying to convince Filipinos that his government was merely assisting and respecting a Red Notice from the Interpol, saying the OP paid the bill made PBBM look like a liar.

Why he revealed who planned Duterte’s extradition leaves me incredulous. Filipinos call it “laglagan,” while Americans call it “throwing someone under the bus!”

Based on the immediate attacks on social media, Año is now labeled a traitor or a double agent by haters, while Gibo’s reputation and integrity are seriously tarnished, no thanks to Sec. Jonvic Remulla.