Editorial: No safer than home

IT USED to be that our streets were safe. A child could practically walk to a friend's house nearby without parents having to worry about anything bad happening to her.

But oh, how times have changed. And they have changed in the worst way possible.

Now, we fear for our children's lives the minute they step out of the house. We worry about them even when they are in school, which is supposed to be a safe place for them. And we worry when night falls and they have not come home.

The changing times brings a change in people, not necessarily for good. There is evil in some people's hearts, which can harnessed by events happening around them, including change.

Ryza Mae Gomez, the girl who was raped, killed and then set on fire, had a life. She had a future. But she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and everything changed in an instant.

She would not be able to go to school anymore. She would not be able to marry and have kids, nor would she be able to enjoy the life she was given as a gift by her parents.

What excuse do the men who raped, killed and burned her body have for doing such a gruesome act? Were they drunk? High on drugs? Crazy? All of the above?

Whatever excuse they have, which prompted them to kill a child, is useless. They have committed a grave crime, which they should pay. Their lives are not even enough.