EDITORIAL - Gun culture

The attack was staged when the establishment was closed so it was clearly meant to scare rather than kill. Still, the shooting of a coffee shop owned by ABS-CBN broadcaster Anthony Taberna last week raises concern about the ease by which armed attacks can be staged in this country.

As of yesterday, investigators were still hunting down the gunmen, who were caught on security surveillance video as they arrived on motorcycles and began shooting up Ka Tunying’s Coffee Shop on Visayas Avenue in Quezon City at around 2 a.m., damaging its glass windows.

Taberna is a nephew of a minister expelled by the Iglesia ni Cristo, but the broadcaster has said he is estranged from his uncle and is closer to the INC leadership that is locked in a bitter feud with the minister. Police have noted that Taberna has been critical of numerous personalities and groups.

Also last week in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, another broadcaster was the target of an armed attack. Cosme Diez Maestrado, described by colleagues as a hard-hitting anchor of radio station dxOC, was shot 10 times by gunmen on two motorcycles in front of a shopping center. He died in a hospital. Media groups said if the attack is established to be work-related, Maestrado would be the 28th journalist murdered under the Aquino administration.

Maestrado’s killing came just days after Teodoro Escanilla, a commentator on local radio station dzMS, was also shot dead at his residential compound in Sorsogon. Escanilla was also the spokesman in the province for human rights group Karapatan and chairman of the local chapter of the left-leaning Anakpawis party.

The guns used in the attacks are unlikely to be registered. All over the country, loose firearms continue to proliferate. Easy access to guns makes murder much easier, especially when combined with the mobility provided by motorcycles and the anonymity provided by tinted bike helmets. If little is done to curb the proliferation of loose firearms, the violence can be expected to escalate as the general elections approach.