Cabaero: Story continues

ONLY a monster can commit infant rape. For Jonathan Marfe, 40, it wasn’t even his first arrest for rape when he was held Friday for sexually assaulting a four-month-old baby girl.

Police said Martin was an illegal drugs user and was involved in a past rape case. He was arrested for the sexual assault on the baby in Barangay Perrelos, Carcar City. The infant was believed taken from her mother’s house, brought to a coconut farm, then abandoned after the assault.

A witness, a drinking buddy of Martin, said he saw the suspect enter the victim’s house that night.

Marfe would have to face the charges but this is one case you wished the police could do more. The case highlights the need for a sex offender registry to warn the public of the presence in their neighborhood of those who prey on children. The registry lists those who have been found guilty of being a sex offender, their latest location, and any other charges they are facing.

Police did not give details yet on Marfe’s past rape case, on whether it involved assault on a minor, nor did they say that a registry could have prevented the infant rape in Carcar. But creating the registry means doing more than the procedural filing of cases and waiting for the court’s verdict. This is what the situation demands after the horrific incident. An assurance that more is being done to protect infants and other children from sex offenders.

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The story ended in unrequited love, the deep pain reflected in the eyes and smile of the friend who saw his beloved getting married to another man.

That was how the Jollibee commercial “Vow,” released for Valentine’s Day, ended. With that, social media exploded in bursts of sympathy from the similarly lovelorn, condemnation from the judgmental and the unimpressed, and many funny memes done by people who pounce on every opportunity to have fun on a serious national matter.

Then there was the discussion thread of people adding to the story and wondering what happens next. They asked--Did the story end there? Where’s the rest of the story? Did she and her husband live happily ever after or did they split up?

Here’s one story continuation: The friend (the man) tries to nurse his broken heart, gets sick and dies. The woman is devastated as she realizes belatedly she was deeply in love with that friend. She lives a lie with her husband. She gets sick and dies, to follow her loved one to the afterlife. The story is told from the perspective of the husband.

This is a dark sequel to the Jollibee commercial “Vow,” a story continuation too painful and full of drama that it would go against the character of the fast food chain as a happy place for family and loved ones.

One result of the popular video advertisement is that it succeeded in getting the nation’s collective creative juices flowing.