I was craving for siomai, the ones usually found in Barangay Tisa. But since the fire in Barangay Kamputhaw was just about to be controlled, Escario was closed off to vehicles. I found what I was looking for at the corner of the provincial Capitol; I was told this was the spot where PDEA Agent Baby “Earl” Rallos was shot dead.
She served my hefty order of siomai and said she saw how the crime was committed. I asked her to elaborate more, and she did. With a scoff, she said despite her knowledge she was not willing to testify as she feared for her own life.
It did not happen to just Rallos alone. Every day we are puzzled by the series of killings that seem to go unsolved. There are witnesses as these crimes are done in the middle of a bustling area or in broad daylight, but they just won’t come forward. Of course, who wouldn’t be scared to testify before authorities and put his/her own life at risk? Little did they know that they are the keys to putting the investigation to an end.
This is the problem that the authorities are facing every day. The family members of the victims expect them to have a lead right away when the immediate community just wouldn’t cooperate. Aside from the fear factor, it has become our culture to just be apathetic. This situation delays the whole case and puts justice in the backseat. All the more the family would clamor for attention and the perpetrator flees like a free bird, waiting for its next victim.
Have we lost our innate character to help one another? Or do we simply just want to protect ourselves and the people that we love the most? It is a vicious cycle that goes on; a crime is committed, the community refuses to give any statement, the suspect escapes, the investigation is delayed, and everything else falls into place later than expected. There are some exceptions to these situations, of course.
It has hard to pinpoint what we should address first. We can solve the problem by pinpointing why the crimes happened. Or we can also go as far as to ask ourselves why witnesses refuse to give their sides of the story. It is a reality that authorities should ponder on to bring about the best solution. We should not settle for surface investigations, we need a team in the police who are experts when it comes to investigating. My mind wanders to episodes of my favorite American crime drama series, I wish our cops were as snappy as theirs.
I know the cops are all doing their jobs, I also know that there are a handful who think their job is their entitlement. At the end of the day is the fact that there is a crime that needs to be solved so charges may be filed. They need to think twice.