Yet another tragic story

Asterio Boltron was a policeman who tried to earn an honest living. And because his salary as an SPO4 ( senior police officer IV ) was never enough to feed his family, he took to driving taxicabs in his spare time.

On the night of Tuesday, May 13, Boltron was held up by two men who got on his taxi pretending to be passengers. Boltron was shot in the course of what appeared to be a robbery. He died the following day in the hospital.

The question to ask is why an apparently honest cop driven to take on odd jobs to make ends meet should be the one to fall victim to a senseless killing. The temptation is great to say why not all those crooks in uniform.

A few days earlier, police officials in Cebu were hard-pressed trying to assuage the public that no law enforcers were involved in the ambush-slaying of three swindlers right after they got out of jail on posting bail.

The officials had to parry the questions, including those not needing to be asked, because many things were implied by the way people looked in their direction, the most hurting of which was that cops could be involved.

And why, indeed, is this? Why has it become almost automatic for people to suspect police involvement in high-profile crimes? Aren't the police the ones people normally turn to for help during incidences of crime?

Days before that, bank robbers who also managed to gain temporary liberty after posting bail were also promptly gunned down shortly afterward. Similarly, people could not look at law enforcers with a straight eye without blinking away suspicions.

There is a very serious crisis in this country if the people who are supposed to uphold the law are the very ones people start suspecting of violating it. And it is not just a crisis of confidence. It is in fact a crisis of institutions.

A crisis of confidence can easily be overcome by the shining examples shown by a few good men. This is the reason why, in any discussion on such matters, it is almost always necessary to throw in the qualifier that the misdeeds of a few does not speak for the many.

A crisis of confidence always allows a little room for the benefit of the doubt. In a crisis of confidence, people are willing to allow the possibility that a few rotten eggs cannot spoil the whole bunch.

But when the crisis moves on to encompass entire institutions, then entire societies may already be in very grave danger. When institutions start to crumble, there is already very little that people can rely on for help and support.

It is difficult to say where the Philippines stands at this point. But the signs are very disturbing. When a crime is committed and it becomes almost automatic for people to smell the smell of men in uniform, then if we are not there yet, we must be very very near the end.

Just look at the difference. In a crisis of confidence, we need a preponderance of evidence to be convinced that, indeed, law enforcers may be involved. In a crisis of institutions, no such pieces of evidence are necessary when conclusions become automatic.

The story of police officer Boltron would have sufficed to sweep away any nagging doubts we have in a crisis of confidence. It would have been easy to say, oh, here was a cop who at least tried to live his life decently, even if he had to die in the process.

But the sacrifice of Boltron, for his family, for his calling, for his uniform, for his institution, may now be all in vain. You can see that in the reaction of people. They shake their heads over the senselessness of his death. But it changes larger perceptions no more.