No change on Charter change

 After Malacañang, the next most heavily guarded place in the Philippines is perhaps the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The moment you step into NAIA grounds from the entrance gates, people and vehicles must pass through stringent security checks.

From X–ray machines to closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to body search and physically being frisked by security guards, going inside NAIA premises is like passing through the eye of the needle, so to speak. That’s how security conscious airport operations are!

So what the hell happened last Friday when four passengers who just deplaned were gunned down right in front of the NAIA-3 arrival area? Five women were injured in what could be a case of collateral damage of this bold assassination case.

Mayor Okol Talumpa of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur, his wife Lea and their nephew were shot dead as they emerged at the NAIA Bay Area to ride their van waiting to pick them up. They just arrived from a two-hour flight from Zamboanga. Innocent bystanders fell victim to this bloody incident.

An 18-month-old baby boy was killed in the hail of caliber 45 bullets fired by tandem-riding suspects. A three-year-old girl is still fighting for her life after she got shot in the head, likely from stray bullets.

The assassins did not even try to hide their crime under cloak of darkness. They were audaciously bold as they did this heinous crime in broad daylight.

Talumpa, incumbent and first term mayor, was a member of the local Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC). He reportedly had survived two previous assassination attempts. Police are looking into possible angle of rido (blood feud or clan war among Muslims) and local politics as motives in the killing of Talumpa.

Whatever the motives, the hard facts show how incompetent the people are running our country’s premier airport, especially on security provisions.

And to think these three airport passenger terminals – NAIA 1, 2 and 3 – were all named after slain Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, the namesake father of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III.

In the specific case of NAIA-3, the Aquino administration is preparing it for full commercial operations to take in more international flights. Abandoned by the previous administration, NAIA-3 went through many legal problems that reached all the way to international courts.

And despite its reconstruction, NAIA general manager, retired Air Force Gen. Angel “Bodette” Honrado admitted “on the record” there is no CCTV installed in that particular area of NAIA-3. Honrado has a lot to explain for this security lapse.

In a larger picture, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, as immediate head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), needs to step up to the plate on this seeming breakdown of law and order. Buhay party-list representative Lito Atienza particularly echoed this concern as he warned the bloody shooting incident at NAIA-3 could tarnish the government’s campaign to bring more foreign investors and tourists into the country.

Atienza noted the NAIA-3 incident came a few hours after the nearly fatal shooting of the wife of lawyer Raymund Fortun who handles highly celebrated cases. Fortun believes the tandem-riding suspects were actually after him but shot by mistake his wife while she was parking their car in front of their house in an exclusive subdivision in Las Piñas City last Thursday night. 

 Just as the holiday shopping spree for Christmas started, Atienza cited the most recent robbery committed by a group called “Martilyo Gang” that so boldly barged in a crowded mall teeming with security guards.

Though no one was hurt in the ensuing panic of mall-goers, Atienza credited President Aquino and Roxas when they went to the scene of the crime one after the other. But not all were pleased by the special presidential attention given to this mall incident.

All these crimes happened after the PNP leadership made public announcements on the usual tightened security during the holiday season. As far as Atienza sees it, this spate of crimes speaks ill of the leadership and governance, especially in keeping peace and order.  

“What are the police doing? When the chief of police in Leyte made the 10,000 estimate of possible dead in Yolanda, he was relieved. But in this spate of crimes, no police chief is being relieved over breakdown of law and order,” Atienza pointed out.

Another case in point, Atienza pointed out, was the quarrel between the DILG secretary and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez over police control, among other issues.

Because of this, Atienza wanted to question the DILG-PNP budget during the ratification of the proposed 2014 budget last Monday. Atienza disclosed he agreed to set aside his reservations after Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. promised to lead a congressional inquiry into the breakdown of law and order when they resume session on January 20.

Atienza believed the organization and supervision of the PNP need to be strengthened through an amendment of the country’s 1987 Constitution. That is why, even if he is a member of the House minority group, Atienza vows full support to the Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative of the Speaker. Atienza though prefers the mode of Cha-cha via elected Constitutional Convention and not amendment by legislation as espoused by the Speaker.

But Atienza cited he and Belmonte shared common views on the need to return to the previous two-layer system of the police organization, one national and the other at the local level. Belmonte and Atienza were former local chief executives. Atienza was mayor of Manila while Belmonte was mayor of Quezon City and both served for three consecutive terms.

He sneezed at criticisms this old setup of the police organization would only bring back the pre-martial law situation of the policemen becoming private army of the local executives. With the advent of social media and mobile phones with cameras, Atienza says no abuses, especially by any erring government official, will escape notice.

But the bigger problem for Cha-cha movers is P-Noy who remains adamantly against it. There is nothing to indicate P-Noy has changed tune on Charter change.