Iced head, please
-A A +AThursday, October 25, 2012
Ryan “Baktin” Yu peeves Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte so much that the pro-vigilante official has offered a bounty for the man who is said to be the leader of a big carnapping syndicate in Davao.
In a press conference last night, Duterte made a chilling offer to anyone intrepid enough to carry it out: P2 million for Yu’s arrest, P4 million for his death, or P5 million to the one who serves him Yu’s head on the rocks.
“Five million pesos pag dinala ang ulo na nakabalot sa ice,” was how Duterte said it, according to a message of Sun.Star Davao reporter Ivy Tejano to Davao newsroom administrator Donna Cuyos who posted it on Facebook.
Wow. Those who know Duterte know that the vice mayor was not being literary when he said those words. Duterte is a literal speaker. Ask anyone in Davao City.
Baktin Yu is suspected to be a trader of hot cars in Davao City. A raid on a private property, where Yu reportedly hides, Monday night yielded 14 vehicles that Duterte said were stolen. Yu’s lawyer had said his client could present papers for the vehicles.
Reports of cars being stolen have plagued Davao City lately, and these have more than displeased Duterte, who takes pride in his city being orderly and crime-free.
Residents and visitors of Davao City can walk the streets at any hour without fear of being mugged or robbed. No one lives to commit the same crime again.
That Baktin Yu, said to be behind the car thefts, has remained on the loose has been too much for Duterte to bear. Duterte has accused corrupt members of the Highway Patrol Group and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) of being in cahoots with Yu, a major reason Yu’s trade has flourished.
Duterte said Yu drops the names of politicians in Mindanao and often has his picture taken with them. Yu can’t come close to Duterte without risking death, if we go by the vice mayor’s mean streak.
A previous story published by Sun.Star Davao quoted Duterte as saying that he would not bring Yu and his cohorts, who may include kin, to court. He would simply clip the process. Short and quick.
“I would not use any term like demanda kundi, ayaw mo dire or else madidisgrasya kayo.” I don’t think there’s any other interpretation to that.
Duterte won’t be content with Yu’s arrest. He wants him dead, and not just dead but beheaded too. Furthermore, he wants Yu’s head wrapped in ice, if I were to give a literal translation to his instruction of “nakabalot sa ice.”
That’s chilling. It brings to mind scenes from “The Godfather” that show the Mafia’s cold and spotless ways of killing a man.
Duterte knows that Yu has connections and resources. A small bounty will not attract mercenaries. Yu can top his offer of P5 million but his order for Yu’s iced head sends a clear signal to Baktin.
The vice mayor, who had served as mayor of Davao City for years, has said that he wants Baktin Yu and his cohorts out of his city. Along with the bounty on Yu’s head, Duterte has offered P50,000 for every person in cahoots with Yu who is brought to him.
Car shops will be inspected personally by Duterte and every vehicle in them checked for papers. He has warned the car shop owners “never to deny me” because he will go straight in especially if he smells something fishy going on inside.
“Walay warrant warrant,” Duterte has said. That’s how he keeps things in order in Davao City.
The search is on for Baktin Yu’s head. Be ready with the ice.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 25, 2012.
Opinion
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