Thursday, June 25, 2009

Killing in the kanto: The murder of Dr. Peñera





[caption id="attachment_688" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Map courtesy of wikimapia.org"]Map courtesy of wikimapia.org[/caption]

There was a heavy downpour the other night while I was on my way home. I thought it was what caused the traffic. But upon reaching corner De La Peña Subd., I found out that somebody was ambushed. Of course, I didn't know who. It was only the following morning, when I watched the news, that I learned it was Dr. Rogelio Peñera who was ambushed. He is the chief epidemiologist of the Department of Health in Southern Mindanao.

Unfortunately, the doctor's 15-year old daughter was with him and was hit in the arm. Both were rushed to Davao Medical Center, but the elder Peñera died while on the way to the hospital.


Policemen are looking into two possible angles: mistaken identity or personal grudge. (See DOH epidemiologsit shot dead in Davao City)


Update: At the press conference militant groups held in United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP) on Friday last week, talks were rife that Dr. Peñera could have been killed because of his involvement in such militant groups as Alliance for Health Workers (AHW) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN). (See Doc in military "order of battle")

Monday, June 22, 2009

DDS brings no good

Whether in the digital or in the real world, it is not rare at all to read or hear words of praises for the (dis)service the Davao Death Squad (DDS) has been doing for the city. In YouTube, for example, where a report on DDS by Chris Rogers of ITV-CNN is posted, one reads from a certain darkskyBAO this comment:
I'm a firm believer when it comes to absolute justice. Despite many would detest their disapproval over the "shadowy" group we have to admit that the things they do greatly benefit the safety and order of Davao. The end justifies the means; all criminals no matter how big or just petty hooligans, be it a underage delinquent or not as long as they are deemed a threat in the face of our country. We must not hesitate more. I wish some one like these would be placed in Sulu and Metro Manila.

Many people--Davaoeños and non-Davaoeños alike--share this most cherished belief of darkskyBAO. Since the DDS, they are led to believe, started to complement or take over--not sure which one--the job (that of busting criminals) that solely belongs to the state, the crime rate in the city decreased. No less than the city government is proud of this feat.

But has the city's crime rate really dropped down since DDS began its operation?

No, said Human Rights Watch in its report "You Can Die Anytime." Rebutting the city's claim that "From a 3-digit crime rate per 10,000 people in 1985, Davao has reached an almost Utopian environment with a monthly crime volume of 0.8 cases per 10,000 persons from 1999 up to 2005", the HRW report said:
These descriptions attempt to conceal a rampant crime wave—namely, the murder of hundreds of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals, and street children.

More importantly, by averaging out years of statistics and omitting most recent years, they belie the city’s sharp upward trend in crime rates over the last decade. According to statistics from the police, between 1999 and 2008, the population in Davao City grew from 1.12 million to 1.44 million, or by 29 percent. Meanwhile, the number of annual crime incidents during this period rose from 975 to 3,391, or by 248 percent.21 These numbers show that, contrary to the city government’s self-proclaimed success, its tough anti-crime campaign has failed to curve crime rates. An increasing number of death squad killings appears to have contributed to worsening crime rates in the city.

If it were true, and I believe it is, it only shows that, contrary to many a people's belief, lawlessness only breeds further lawlessness. So we must disabuse ourselves from thinking that the presence of DDS is good because, in reality, it's not.

Extrajudicial killings in Davao City: A timeline

There have been many developments since the Commission on Human Rights came here on March 30 to look into the flagrant extrajudicial killings in the city. But I wasn't able to blog about them because I have been up to something else lately. I am glad, though, that I was still able to keep track of them, thanks to the ever-reliable Google Alerts.

Here then is an attempt to put together the events that ensued since the CHR's visit:

Carlos Latuff on DDS

Davao Death Squads


Carlos Latuff--yes, the controversial Brazilian political cartoonist--has made a cartoon on Davao Death Squad and the public's response to the mayhem this ghostly group is sowing.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Excerpt: Two Promises

Below is an excerpt from the story I've written. Set in Davao City, "Two Promises" is a story of two people---one is a wife, the other is a group of people---whose experiences became a metaphor for each other. If you find that the story really sucks, tell me that it sucks.

OVER DINNER, Juana was intently listening to Carlos, her eldest son, who was talking about his first week in school when suddenly it dawned on her that the seat across hers, the seat reserved for her husband, was vacant. It had been so for six years now. Carlos stopped talking. He noticed the sad look in her mother’s eyes as she’s staring at the vacant seat.

“Are you not angry of Papa?” Carlos asked.

“No,” Juana said.

“Do you still love Papa?”

“Yes.”

“But how can you love him when he left you, us?”

For a while she was dumbfounded. She didn’t know what to say. Until now she had not yet found an answer to the question, one that could satisfy the questioner and herself. Whenever someone asked her that question, whether it’s her son, or her sons’ or daughters’ teacher, or her neighbors, her standard response was to steer the conversation away. She was about to say something to stave off her son’s question when they heard a knock on the door.

“I’ll open it,” said Maria, the second child of Juana.

“No, I’ll open it,” Juana insisted. “Stay there and finish your food.”

When Juana opened the door, a lanky man, more than five feet tall, stood before her. He was bearded; his eyes deep-set; his cheeks sunken. He’s probably in his thirties, but he looked old for his age. His face was that of a man who seemed to have spent his lifetime worrying and whining and womanizing. Haggard might be the apt word to describe him.

Juana barely recognized him. If it were not for the man’s mole on the left part of his face, just an inch below the eye, she wouldn’t have recognized that the man standing before her is her husband, Hipolito, who, as far as Juana’s reckoning was concerned, had been gone for six years.

“Juana, I’m back,” Hipolito said, his eyes swelling with tears.

But Juana didn’t heed him; her attention was glued on the things Hipolito was holding. In his left was a bundle of three red roses. In his right was a small nigo covered with a silver foil. Juana knew what’s beneath the covering—pancit guisado. The roses and the nigo of pancit guisado brought her back to the days, those sweet and carefree days, when Hipolito was courting her; back to the time when she was not Juana but Jane; and Hipolito, Lito.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

How not to oppose the CONASS?

This nation's teetering on the brink of disaster.

Why? Because House Resolution 1109 is passed; because our reps, who are  no longer acting as our reps, are poised to rape or has already raped our Constitution.


But if you don't oppose CONASS, if you want to choose the path our reps chose, indeed if you want to contribute to this nation's decline, here's how:

  • Don't visit the No To Con Ass website. Don't post the badges available there if you want Gloria forever.

  • Don't oppose the CONASS---the variety offered by our Repestentatives.

  • Don't help spread the word that this resolution, this horrendous move to hastily change the Constitution, or whatever they want to do with it, is nothing but an attempt to...what the hell.

  • Let other people carry your slumber.


If you follow all of the above, if you don't help stop this madness, welcome to bedlam.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

'Strictly speaking'



[caption id="attachment_635" align="alignleft" width="219" caption="Strictly Speaking: Will America Be The Death Of English? By Edwin Newman"]Strictly Speaking: Will America Be The Death Of English? By Edwin Newman[/caption]

Recently added to my mini-library is Strictly Speaking by Edwin Newman, which I bought last night at the Bookshop for P60.

Based on its introduction---the only part I managed to read so far---that a presidential spokesman opted to say he must be given enough time to make an "evaluation and judgment in terms of a response" than simply say "he'll think about it," is a commentary on the state of language. And the state of language is a commentary on the state of society.

"Language," Edwin Newman says, "is in decline." Does it mean society is in decline, too?

Newman says we have become a society when people say "at this point in time" instead of the more concise "now" or "today." Ours is a society where everything done "before" is done "prior to," and everything done "after" is done "subsequent to."

Newman's message, then as now, remains valid. It also hit close to home.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Teachers: A privileged lot

Like it or not, this essay won as champion in the Essay Competition for English during the Education Inter-School Competition last February 28, 2009 held at the Holy Cross of Davao College. It bested five other entries from University of Immaculate Concepcion, Ateneo de Davao University, Jose Maria College, University of Southern Philippines, and University of Mindanao. It's written at the spur of the moment, so I took the liberty of editing it.
***

There's a story that has become a favorite among teachers.

Once, St. Peter — typically portrayed as the bearded hard-to-please gate keeper of heaven — went into his usual rounds of screening souls. The good deeds each one had done on earth are the bases of St. Peter for choosing who gets to enter heaven. He asked one soul, a doctor, what had he done while he’s still alive. Loud and proud, the doctor said he cured the sick for free. St. Peter asked another soul, this time it was a lawyer. The lawyer said he defended the poor and oppressed. Then, St. Peter asked an engineer. The engineer said he built buildings and bridges, some of which became the marvels of the world today.

But no one seemed to impress St. Peter. A lowly soul approached St. Peter and said, “I taught them all.” Right then and there, St. Peter allowed the teacher to enter the strictly guarded gates of heaven.