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Saturday, November 12, 2005
Nalzaro: Vigilantes should be commended
By Bobby Nalzaro
I disagree with the observation of some quarters that Cebu City has become a murder city. This following the spate of killings perpetrated by suspected vigilantes that until this time have remained unsolved.
Yes, there were killings, but consider those who were killed. Most of them were notorious elements that terrorized people through their nefarious activities.
Their deaths were therefore not alarming. We should only be alarmed if those killed are people with good standing in the community, like businessmen.
We can only call our beloved “Queen City of the South” a murder city if people are shot without any provocation. But the victims of summary executions were criminals and were involved in nefarious and illegal activities. They were killers, holduppers, muggers and drug dealers. They deserved no mercy and sympathy.
Those felled by vigilantes targeted innocent people and did not hesitate to kill their victims when they resisted. I can only sympathize with their relatives.
Vigilantes or those behind them should be commended instead of condemned.
They had a role in the reduction of criminality in the city. According to police statistics, incidents of street crimes this year were lesser compared with those of last year. And we can attribute this to the existence of vigilantes.
Just think of it. How many people would have been victimized had those criminals been alive today? Even if only one half of the 103 people killed were holduppers, how many Cebuano would have been divested of their valuables or killed? Why wait until these criminals victimize people?
Yes, we should follow due process, but look at what's happening now? Criminals caught are allowed to put bail. And once they are free, they again become headaches of law enforcers.
That's what happened in the case of Joel 'Tongol' Nodalo, Rey Torres and their cohorts who were responsible for the series of big time robbery cases in Cebu. However, they have already been neutralized following the capture of Torres and the killing of Tongol.
What happened to Torres and Tongol should be a lesson for other police characters. As they say, crime does not pay.
On the proposed congressional inquiry by the House committee on justice and human rights regarding the unsolved killings, I would say it is just a waste of time. Congressional inquiries are supposedly in aid of legislation. But sometimes some politicians use it as a venue for grandstanding.
What possible pieces of legislation can Congress pass? We already have enough laws in our Revised Penal Code to cover crimes against persons, such as murder and homicide.
(bgnalzaro@gmanetwork.com)
(November 12, 2005 issue)
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