Again, peace and order first!

Nowadays, it seems even children are no longer safe from violence and crime. They have actually become the targets of those without souls to burn in hell. Predators preying on the easiest of them all, children. Take the case of the abduction of two siblings, aged nine and six. The mother leaves them for a while in order to buy some food, and when she comes back, they’re both gone. As both luck and fate would have it, the nine year old girl escapes her abductors, and based on her memory of the place where they were both taken, she points out the possible location of her younger brother. But alas, they were too late. They discover him foaming at the mouth, with strangle marks around his neck, dead. God only knows the suffering this poor child endured at the hands of these monsters.

Suspects are now in the custody of authorities, based on testimony by the daughter who escaped. According to authorities, many child abductions occur because the suspects “trip” on them. What that exactly means cannot be good for the abducted children. We know that children are abducted to be sold. But in this case, they are abducted so they can have their version of “fun”. One of the suspects even professed that they have already abducted and killed several children. If found guilty, what are we to do with these monsters? These predators whose only goal is to satisfy their brand of fun. Should they be allowed to return to civil society? Shouldn’t they be imprisoned for life without the possibility for parole, ever? These are just a sample of the kind of criminal elements that now prey on children.

With all the government’s trumpeting of the good economic atmosphere the country is enjoying, along with the Philippines gaining the attention of the international community of terms of business and investment, we have to give importance to the basics, which is the peace and order situation of society. All these current successes that the country is enjoying will amount to nothing if one becomes a victim of violent, senseless crime. And what exactly is economic success to a child abducted just for the sake of “fun”? Nothing at all. Everyday, children are at risk of becoming victims of crime. Recent incidents sadly point that out. From the sale of children to being victims of sick definitions of playtime.

I have always asked the question, "What is happening to our society?” This case, along with the case of a schoolboy killing his classmate with the use of brass knuckles which are openly sold in the streets and the unfortunate death of a graduating student who was pinned by a wayward cement mixer begs me to ask the question once again. While it is good that the country is enjoying an upturn in the economy, we have to go back to basics. Economic success means nothing to a victim of crime. A strong peso means nothing to an abducted child. Foreign investment in the country has nothing to do with a child foaming at the mouth just because the perpetrators poisoned him. It is much easier to enjoy the fruits of a strong economy, if the peace and order situation can be ensured.

Especially for our children.