Deaths in November 1988

During the long weekend that was occasioned by a succession of holidays, we heard of a news story that jolted me and I like to believe that it must have also jarred the whole nation. That government gave millions of pesos to both the Muslim secessionists and the liquidation squad of the communist movement was, to me, more frightening than the most imaginative Halloween mask conceived. That it was kept in utter secrecy such that we, the people, have been totally uninformed made the situation unthinkable.

As the reports unraveled, it appeared that these monetary funnels towards the known enemies of the state started during the term of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Judging from our acceptance of Erap jokes to betray his lack of intellectual depth, the gravity of the act could, perhaps, be mitigated. But, that it was continued by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was quick to show her mental ascendancy (rough translation for taray), was foolish, to say the least.

Why did the news jolt me? As an apparent result of negotiations, government money was committed to be handed to the forces seeking its destruction. In that context, I could not comprehend its rationale. If providing aid and comfort to the enemies is defined in our penal statutes as treason, both past presidents have a lot of explaining do to avoid conviction for the felony. Indeed, it is extremely difficult for these former heads of state to extricate from the culpability of their treachery.

When the news first broke, I recalled one incident. On November 8, 1988, (almost exactly 23 years ago, today) at about noontime, while I was preparing some legal documents in my office, located at the third floor of the building owned by my parents-in-law, I heard a staccato of explosions. Instinctively, I thought they were gunshots. Without any moment of delay, I headed towards our bookstore down stairs. Upon reaching the ground floor, I heard another round of gunshots. That constrained me to I peek out.

There I saw a most horrifying scene. A police officer darted towards the sidewalk of the University of San Carlos. A man was running after him. Then, the predator paused, took aim and fired his weapon. The policeman fell. But that was not enough. The pursuer approached the fallen officer, leveled his handgun at the latter’s head and fired again. Murder!  While the sight convoluted me, the murderer calmly took the policeman’s wallet and as if to announce his senseless satisfaction, he waved it for all to see.

There were other people who cowed in fear near where the Postal Bank is now located. Not far from them was another fallen policemen. He must have been the target of the first volley of gunshots. And he was, of course, very dead.

Belated reports, speculations would be more precise, indicated that there were more than 4 criminals that bloody noon. Investigators revealed that the killers placed themselves in ambush position as to ensure that their intended victims could not return the fire. It really was a one-sided atrocity. War really was unfair to the men in uniform that day.

In the following days, I could only read that the perpetrators were believed to be trained sharpshooters. They called themselves the Sparrow Unit of the New People’s Army. Attributed to them were many killings aside from what I witnessed. In their operational plan was liquidating policemen, military officers and civilians who did not side with their cause. They had no democratic principles to spouse, only the murder of government authorities and the replacement of our government system with their godless imported one.

The killers in that November 1988 incident were the intended beneficiaries of the monetary dole out handed by Estrada and Arroyo. I could not conclude otherwise because our government never attempted to tell us what the millions of pesos they gave were supposed to be for. Transparency was not in their vocabulary. That’s what made me shudder. Did these past presidents consider the surviving families of the two policemen whose killer I saw? Just asking.