Thursday, May 22, 2008 Wenceslao: Dick Sison’s death By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
I do not know personally lawyer Richard “Dick” Sison aside from seeing him years ago at the Cebu City Sports Center where Eruf was based. In recent years he had become a familiar figure in Lapu-Lapu City as lawyer of controversial Mayor Arturo Radaza, but I am not with the Bridge Cities beat. Still, I was saddened by his killing.
When vehicle riding people are easily gunned down by motorcycle-riding assassins in busy city streets, the public should be worried. For starters, Cebu is not supposed to be the Wild West of old, where problems are settled with bullets. I mean, law enforcers better tell us we are no longer in a civilized setup so we can adjust our lifestyle.
In Sitio Kawayan where I grew up, there was this episode in the place’s growth when fights would break there ever so often. My mother Juling would often herd us kids back to our house every time commotion erupted on the sitio’s street. I thus grew up fearful of the safety of the family, until fortunately Martial Law was declared in 1972.
I am not fearful, as yet, for our safety now but if our streets will continue to be the site of bloody ambuscades, I will start to worry. In but a few weeks, three major shooting incidents---one in Minglanilla town and two in Cebu City---have occurred. And in each of these cases, the police have remained clueless as to the identities of the killers.
In the first two incidents, many people tended to brush off the ramifications of the killings because the victims were crime suspects who had just posted bail. But what of Richard Sison? The manner he was killed followed the same pattern and was as violent, which should concern well-meaning people. The killing expertise can be used on anyone.
Talks about hired killers growing in number and coming in cheap have been circulating around for years, meaning that life may just have become cheaper nowadays. One can be killed for just a few thousand pesos. The activities of hired killers plus the continued operation of vigilantes could be enough to push Cebu into anarchy.
Seeking justice, whether for Sison or for the other victims of these killings, has almost become a cliché considering the repeated use of the phrase. But we may have to ask that from law enforcers nevertheless---not only for the relatives of the victims but for public good as well. The Wild West has always been a worrisome place. Even in movies.
