I don't know what is happening to the Philippines… where the nation greeted the New Year 2013 with senseless killings…notably that rampage in Kawit, Cavite that was headlined in The Philippine Star last Jan. 5. That senseless killing was perpetrated by a former barangay councilman named Ronald Bae whose wife allegedly left him… and he ended up in a rampage killing 8 people and injuring 6 others. Included in the list of dead were a pregnant woman and her 5-year-old daughter.
Just when you thought that this was an isolated incident, the Philippine Star last Monday headline “13 killed in Quezon Shootout.†This was truly a “Gunfight in Quezon Corral†where two Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) ignored a police-military checkpoint at the boundary of Plaridel and Atimonan towns in Quezon Province. Was it an assassination squad as a theorist tried to explain, a robbery (because an alleged P100 million was missing) or was it a rubout… Philippine police style? What we know is 13 men were killed in that shootout with the police and let's see where the investigation of this incident would go, if there will be an investigation at all.
At this point, all I can say is that… it could very well be because the Aquino Regime has embraced a “Culture of Deathâ€â€¦ with the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) law. Although to their credit… at least the Aquino Regime at this point still hasn't succumbed to the pressure on the proposed return of the death penalty.
In the midst of all these, Pres. Benigno “Noynoy†Aquino, III won a Shoot Fest with officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) where his critics lambasted him for having that shooting tournament in the midst of the killing spree happening around the country. Frankly speaking, I don't blame the President who most probably wants to sharpen his aim. These critics want to impose a total gun ban in the country. This is similar to the proposal of a good friend of mine, Mr. Nandy Pacheco of the “Gunless Society†fame.
But like it or not, the recent spate of killings should not be blamed on the responsible gun holder. Owning a firearm in this country already costs an arm and a leg… it gets even more expensive if you ask to get a permit to carry your firearms outside your residence. But then, there are sinister groups that maybe behind this spate of killings in order to gain advantage of a serious situation. If the firearms in the hands of good citizens were removed… then only the PNP, the Military or the New People's Army (NPA) or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and of course the terrorists and their band of brothers would be armed to the teeth and we will all be under the mercy of these groups.
Let me remind you that today, the Filipino people still have no confidence in our police. Whenever there's trouble… and if by chance you con-tacted them on the phone, you'd be lucky if the police would be in your premises in 30 minutes to act on your complaint. So if someone was threatening your family with a gun you'd probably be dead before the police arrive.
I don't know if there is anyone getting any surveys as to what are the statistics of licensed firearms used in a homicide? In the US… you can Google those statistics and it would give you figures on each of the 50 states in the US… and it would even give you statistics on the crime levels of each country or city. For the Philippines… I have yet to see those statistics. But I'm willing to bet that the majority of crimes using firearms in this country are loose firearms. So let the debate on gun control begin!
Meanwhile… it may interest you to consider taking a look at a country called Switzerland… which has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Yet, every able bodied Swiss citizen has a submachine gun in his home and he must fire that firearm at least once every year. Call it a kind of a Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) theory where a potential criminal would think twice before entering someone's home… lest he'd end up being shot dead.
We must also focus our attention on the many armed groups that continue to roam the country with impunity. Yes, I'm referring to the NPAs, the MILF, the MNLF or the Abu Sayyaf. These groups carry high-powered fire-arms and would not hesitate to ambush our military.
At this point, I dare say that we need more armed groups to neutralize these armed rogue elements. Our best bet is the return of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Just last Monday, there was a report that the Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD) complained that there were enough relief goods, but seriously lacked volunteers to distribute them. The ROTC can be trained to handle a firearm and be responsible for it, while at the same time provide the warm bodies that the DSWD needs.
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