A time to kill and a season for killing mayors
President Duterte did not invent the phrase "a time to kill." This is from Ecclesiastes, where the prophets said that there is a time for everything, a time to be born and a time to die, and so on. John Grisham, a struggling lawyer, wrote the book "A Time to Kill" which became the most successful novel written by a lawyer all over the world. It earned Grisham billions in royalties. He wrote 25 other successful novels but they could never surpass "A Time to Kill."
These last few days in Luzon, three top officials of local government units were killed. First was Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City, which used to be the bailiwick of the famous Laurel family. Next was Mayor Ferdinand Bote, of General Tinio in Nueva Ecija, which used to be notorious for the feuds between the family of the kingpin Eduardo Joson and Mayor Perez of Cabanatuan. The third killing was that of Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan, a fast-rising political star in Cavite. He and his driver were gunned down in broad daylight. Cavite, like Batangas and Nueva Ecija, is also a very critical area because a lot of killings used to be reported there in the years before Martial Law.
These killings were suspected to be connected with the upcoming local elections next year and/or to the war on drugs. This reminds us of our very young and very dynamic promising vice mayor of Ronda, Cebu, Atty. John Blanco Ungab, who was also assassinated outside the court where he just obtained an acquittal for his client, the well-known or notorious Erwin Espinosa of Leyte. John-John, as we call him in Ronda, was with his wife when bullets ended his successful legal practice and his budding political career. We were even hoped that someday, he could be congressman or governor. I felt very sad when he died.
The president's critics and detractors are blaming Malacañan for this season of killing. Too quickly, the enemies of the administration are ready to lay the blame on President Duterte. But there is no evidence whatsoever that this is an administration project, considering that some of those killed were even aligned with the ruling party. To my mind, those killings are really politically-motivated. Their rivals might have become too desperate because the three were very popular among their respective constituencies. It is not fair to point accusing fingers at the government just because the three victims were executed by professional assassins with demonstrated expertise in the handling of high-powered guns. To put an end to all speculations, investigations must be expedited and the culprits arrested, prosecuted, and punished.
A time to kill is a symptom of a nation that is losing its soul. It is a sign that people have lost their trust in the judicial system. Justice and revenge are being implemented through the barrel of the gun. That certainly is not the nation we want to live in.
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