Calling Mar Roxas

Last week I received a Facebook message from a friend to alert me of a very violent incident that clearly manifested hostile intent if not a psychotic episode of a gun-wielding individual in Barrio Kapitolyo. The attached post was chilling enough to make me send a text message to the Chief of Police of Pasig to alert him on what will clearly be a serious peace and order concern under his jurisdiction.

Here is the FB post of “Ica”:

Is there no place left in Manila where we can feel safe?

I was having dinner at my friend’s apartment on Sta. Catalina St. in Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig on Saturday, Oct. 4, when an unknown gunman shot at my car’s side windows. At least four shots were fired at the right hand side of the vehicle, with the exit holes smashing the left hand windows in parallel. Two more bullet holes were found in the right hand car doors.

All of the parking slots of the apartment building were taken when I arrived at 8.45 p.m., so I chose to park at an unoccupied stretch across the street. This was at least three meters away from the nearest homeowner’s garage doors and a “no parking sign” presumably posted by the same homeowner.

My friend retrieved a food item from the parked car at 10:30 p.m., with no sign of damage. We heard no gunshots or any other loud sound throughout the evening. It was at around 1.45 a.m., when I tried to leave, that we discovered the smashed windows.

As this was my first time to visit Sta. Catalina St., I was advised by an onlooker to drive to the barangay police outpost, where I gave a preliminary statement at 2.30 a.m. By 3 a.m. I was escorted by PO2 Boy Abaya to Pasig City Police HQ, where PO3 Melvin Mendoza took perfunctory pictures, a written statement, and told me to search for any slugs at home and return the bagged shrapnel the next day.

Before going home I accompanied PO2 Abaya to the original site, where they were unable to find any bullet casings. They told me that this was a sign that the gunman probably wrapped the gun to contain the spent casings, and may have used a silencer as well. They also informed me that there had been previous incidents of violence at Sta. Catalina St. triggered by parking disputes, but this was the first time that it involved a gun.

As of Sunday, Oct. 5, a mechanic has found and carefully bagged two slugs and some shrapnel embedded in the car doors. This has not been turned over yet to Pasig City Police, as our family lawyer has advised us to hold the evidence until the CCTV footage (which is more conclusive) has been secured by the Pasig City Police from the apartment building and the neighboring houses.

Kapitolyo presents itself as a safe residential area and thriving food haven, but this incident shows that this area is not safe for visitors or its residents if anyone can shoot at a visitor’s car windows with impunity.

Calling on the Pasig City government, the Kapitolyo barangay council, PNP and DILG to please help address this issue now.

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Meanwhile I receive a second email from a Barrio Kapitolyo resident sharing the details of the same incident:

Dear Sir Cito,

Good afternoon! I am Rhea Catada. Like you, I am a resident of Bo. Kapitolyo. As we all know, in Kapitolyo, parking disputes are commonplace; some even end up in brawls. Some visitors would just find their parked cars spray-painted. Just this weekend, my friend Ica visited me at my apartment along Sta. Catalina. She parked her car at a good spot; with no “No parking” signs whatsoever. Upon returning to her car, she saw someone had shot her car several times, by a still unknown gunman. This scares me very much because this is more than just slashed tires or spray paint. This is someone who thinks he can use his gun without getting caught. We already reported this to the police, but I am not confident how they are going to address this. Every single day that the perpetrator is not caught, I come home very scared, and it has become harder for me to sleep at night. Aside from my concern for my (and my neighborhood’s) safety, this incident makes me sad because of the realization that in areas with residents not as well off as those from Kapitolyo, people commit crimes out of desperation, as a negative coping mechanism because they have nothing to eat. In Kapitolyo, people become criminals over something as irrelevant as parking.

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 The fact of the matter is people in many barangays not just in Barrio Kapitolyo, have become the law unto themselves, placing signs and claims on public streets and making it their “own” personal parking space. This situation has gotten out of hand because barangay officials have chosen to be politically correct and avoid confrontation with residents who break the law by placing claims and obstructions, even drums filled with concrete just to stop people from parking in front or beside their homes. Sorry but everybody deserves blame for these criminal acts especially the barangay chairman, the Mayor, the police, all the way to the Secretary of Interior and Local Government. If he can remove or suspend one-star generals, he should also be able to suspend barangay officials who are no longer doing their jobs. At the very least Mar Roxas should order the removal of all such illegal signs and obstruction and giving fines to those who continue to do so.

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A quick mention: Starting Nov. 12 the movie “God’s Not Dead” will be showing in theaters in Metro Manila. I personally ask our readers to watch it and face up to the challenge. At a time of political and religious correctness, do we still stand up for God, for God’s word, and for the teachings of the church you belong to? It will be a good family bonding time and a means to measure where we are in our faith.

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E-mail: [email protected]