Thursday, February 28, 2008 Editorial: A grievous mistake
THE shooting to death last January 4 in Bankerohan, this city, of a prominent businessman by New People's Army (NPA) assassins was a mistake.
The error was admitted by no less than the NPA itself in an e-mail letter sent to the distraught family of the victim, Vicente S. Ferrazini. It was signed by its spokesman carrying the name Rigoberto Sanchez.
Ferrazini was at the wheel of his vehicle, which had stopped at a traffic light when one of the gunmen approached and shot him fatally. It turned out, as the NPA admitted after investigating the incident that the victim was not guilty of any crime against the rebel movement to merit the death sentence carried out by its hitmen.
The Ferrazini family has asked the NPA to "leave us in peace" that they may return to their normal life without fear of being shot as they go about their legitimate business involving foodshops/bakeshops and farming which dates back to the 1940s. The Ferrazinis have contributed in their own little way to Davao City's economy. They certainly do not deserve the loss of Vicente's life to an assassin's bullets. Nor do they deserve to live in fear of being shot.
It was a most grievous mistake on the part of the NPA, which its spokesman admitted. But their apology will not bring back to life the innocent Vicente S. Ferrazini whose grieving family asks only to be left alone so they can move on with their lives in peace.
