Tuesday, October 10, 2007 Barrita: New menace By Eddie O. Barrita Small Bites
A NEW menace called drive-by shooting has reared its ugly head in Cebu City.
In less than 36 hours last week, four lives were snuffed out in a shooting spree in the city.
It seems these drive-by shooters, who appear to be more dangerous than vigilantes who target only those with criminal records, were taunting the police, “Catch us if you can.”
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They may have been emboldened by the police’s failure to solve the vigilante-style killings.
We now have two groups of loose cannons in the city.
But what happens if the vigilantes turn their crosshairs on the drive-by shooters?
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Fewer lives were lost to dengue than to vigilante-style executions, yet the Cebu City Council declared a state of calamity to combat dengue.
Yes, the comparison stops there.
Dengue’s victims are little children.
Maybe, those mowed down by vigilantes were after all children of a lesser god.
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A Sun.Star Cebu headline after the Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera fight said, “Manny causes brief ceasefire.”
Other reports said there was zero crime in the Philippines’ major cities during the fight.
But it’s all because of television, respected fellow columnist Frank Malilong said.
Now there’s a reason to stretch TV coverage of any of Manny’s fight.
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PNP Chief Avelino Razon Jr. has banned back-riding wives and girlfriends on police motorcycles which are only for official use.
Don’t be surprised, General, if you see policemen riding behind their wives and girlfriends on police motorcycles.
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Congress has included in next year’s national budget a P1 billion condom fund to address the country’s population problem.
But the powerful Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is about to prick that condom fund.
Go ahead, let’s multiply and replenish the earth.
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The bishops said it will all be a waste of money.
They may be right because couples in rural areas seldom use condoms.
They instead blow them into balloons for their kids to play with.
On second thought, would it be such a waste of money to have happy kids in rural areas?
