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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Roperos: Matter of survival
By Godofredo M. Roperos
Politics Also
WHEN we nitpick on the issue of “salvaging” — a euphemism for summary execution of suspected criminal elements — the practice becomes traceable, like many other human activities of our modern times, to the problem of survival. It is unfortunate then that those who have become victims of salvaging did so in their crass effort to beat the odds against hunger and deprivation, especially if the needs of the family are factored in. No civilized person can suffer the cry of hungry children.
With the perceived upsurge of criminality in the city in recent weeks, something that has forced Mayor Tom to go for a harsh and rather “supra democratic” solution to a most threatening social condition, the only hope for the peace-loving inhabitants of the city is to go for a rather radical solution.
To a society that seeks only a peaceful and quiet environment in which to exist, the solution that the mayor proposed appears to be beneath the refined humanity of a people breed in a faith that holds life in high respect.
But then again, the common denominator is survival. If we say that criminal elements are driven to do so out of a strong need to survive, so do residents the mayor represents as the duly elected head of the local government seek to be able to pursue their means of livelihood sans any threat to their lives. They are, in a manner of speaking, also just trying to insure their day-to-day survival unafraid and unhindered by anyone.
The recent spate of killings that our dailies have headlined in yesterday’s issues may be repugnant to the sense of justice and humanity to some people, but it is also a welcomed event to many others, particularly the victims of criminal deeds. It is, to stretch the use of a popular and overused phrase, really dependent on which side of toast is deftly buttered. Mayor Tom’s proposal to organize a team of criminal hunters is actually a modified version of Davao City’s Mayor Duterte.
The last time I was in Davao City, which was about a few months ago to be a wedding sponsor to a niece, I was told that anyone, the ladies particularly, can walk down any street or small and dark alleys in the city, freely swinging her handbag and nobody would dare snatch it for fear of their lives. Some of the more daring ones who did snatch some ladies’ bags, ended up floating down the river or in the nearby sea.
The “notoriety” of Davao City, with regard to its treatment of known criminals, has become legendary. But I understood from media friends in Davao that the Davaoeños have learned to live —and even welcomed— the rather radical solution their mayor has adopted to gain the peace and safety of the inhabitants. It is a solution that goes against the grain of our democratic way of life, but it subscribes to the belief that the citizenry has a right to protect themselves.
I am not quite sure how Cebu City inhabitants would take the proposed “hunter team” of Mayor Tom. That there has not been much outcry against the idea, which is actually couched on the basic thought that the team’s operation would stay within the parameters of law. And even Cardinal Vidal subscribes to it with the same proviso of legality, indicating a sense of despair in the heart of city dwellers against the crime wave.
The current efforts to replicate in some measure the feat of the Davao City leadership may not be to the liking of human rights workers. For life is life, and it carries the same value whether it be of a criminal or of the social elite.
But law enforcers should not hesitate to act, to save the lives of many.
(December 28, 2004 issue)
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