Remembering Pres. Ramon Magsaysay Sr.

Today is the 49th death anniversary of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay, Sr. whose Presidential plane, Mt. Pinatubo crashed on the peak of Mt. Manunggal, Balamban. This tragedy is as far back I can remember in my childhood. I was but a small six-year-old boy when we rushed to the Lahug Airport (that's the Waterfront Hotel today) where I saw for the first time, a helicopter, a UH-19 A Rescue "Chickasaw" helicopter bearing the remains of the President. Later, his coffin, draped with the Philippine Flag, was placed at the chapel in Camp Lapu-Lapu, which was later flown to Manila.

People who lived through his Presidency, today, still remember how popular Pres. Magsaysay was. That's because he was able to suppress the Huk rebellion when he was Defense Secretary to Pres. Elipido Quirino. During his own Presidency, the Hukbalahap threat disappeared except for a few ragtag roving bands who turned to banditry or robbery. That is why Pres. Magsaysay was so endeared to the Filipino people even up to this day.

If the Communist insurgency has returned like a ghost of the past, perhaps it is because we failed to remember how Pres. Magsaysay was able to stop the Huks in his day, with his four "Fs": "Find 'em, Fool 'em, Fight 'em and Finish 'em… then offer them the hand of peace." Pres. Magsaysay's method is still very relevant today as it was during his day. But it is the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its bloodthirsty armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA) and its evil twin, the National Democratic Front (NDF) that apparently used the Magsaysay theory in fighting and fooling the Philippine government.

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Two major criminal incidents that happened in Cebu and featured in the news made our alarm bells ring even while things haven't gone awry. Today we still face unabated vigilante style killings, which probably hasn't disturbed the middle and upper class simply because almost all the victims had criminal records or awaiting trial in our courts of law. But the kidnapping of that Chinese businessman, including that of the Manila-based Chinese businessman sent shivers down the spine of the business community. No doubt, this is a cause for serious concern.

Another criminal incident was reported in The FREEMAN last month, which also sent the same grave concern to us. This is the gang-rape of a coed in a resort (did it happen in Hadsan?) in Barangay Marigondon, allegedly by five college students. The four suspects who were arrested were having a kick-off party for their school's football team. Before the party was over, they took turns raping the young coed. So far, the Lapu-Lapu City police arrested only four suspects but what is worrisome is that this incident is no longer in the news for reasons I still have to find out.

Let me point out that rape is a private crime. Too often, the rape victim gets victimized twice - first by the actual rape, the second when the case gets to court and the victim gets emotionally raped by the lawyers defending the rapists. This is why, more often than not, a rape victim clamps up and refuses to testify, which then results in the release of rapists back into society so they can rape innocent women again and again!

The last high-profile rape/murder case was the case of the Chiong sisters, Jacqueline and Marijoy, which resulted in the death penalty of those who conspired in this crime, mostly scions of rich families in Cebu. I heard that in this recent case the five suspects are also scions of rich families.

When I read in the news that this crime involved a football team, it brought me back to an incident that we wrote during the last Sinulog Festival across the Baseline Restaurant along Juana Osmeña St. where a group identified with a football team started a near riot, disturbing vehicles passing along the way. When the Swat Team of the Philippine National Police (PNP) arrived, they showed no respect for authority and taunted the police. Those young punks thought that they could trample on our laws and get away with it! I have a strong suspicion that those four suspects that were in the custody of the Lapu-Lapu City police could belong to the same group.

What I found strange in this case is that, even the media here seemed disinterested in this case, which is the exact opposite of their giving so much attention on the celebrated Chiong case. I just hope that those four suspects haven't been released; otherwise we better warn young school girls that there are a bunch of rapists out there pretending to be football players! With the problem of kidnapping, which was unheard of in Cebu until now, we must get into the bottom of this, before kidnapping becomes an everyday occurrence here, then it would be too late to press the panic button!

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