EDITORIAL - Get the brains

Why would a bunch of young men living in Quezon City want to kill the female mayor of a remote coastal town in Isabela? Nothing personal, according to two of four men tagged in the murder of Maconacon Mayor Erlinda Domingo. The two suspects who were arrested told police that they were simply recruited and paid by a third suspect, the alleged triggerman who is at large, to carry out the hit. The two claimed not to know who ordered the killing.

It is a common story in many murders in this country. The rare times that a hired gun is caught, the mastermind often remains unidentified. People who can afford to pay for assassinations usually have enough money, influence and threat factor to ensure the silence of hired guns in case of arrest. This is true particularly in political killings.

This should not make it impossible for police investigators to pursue possible motives that could lead to the brains. In every Philippine electoral exercise in recent history, dozens of candidates and their supporters are murdered. While political rivals are often suspected of responsibility in most of the cases, few of the likely suspects are indicted or even arrested for the killings.

Those who get away with one murder are usually emboldened to kill again. Each subsequent murder reinforces impunity. Taken to extremes, impunity leads to a massacre like the one in Maguindanao in 2009 – the worst case of election violence in this country.

The best deterrent to impunity is the certainty of arrest and punishment. With the start of the election period and the approach of the official campaign season, the nation can expect the usual spike in political violence. This sorry state of affairs does not have to continue. In the case of Mayor Domingo, police are reportedly looking into political rivalry as the motive for her murder. If the brains behind the killing can be caught, it would be one step toward discouraging more violence in this election year.