JESSIE Largo’s death was brutal and, although people may deny this, widely sought after. Considering how he lived, many heaved a sigh of relief that he was killed and not merely arrested. It’s a sad commentary on our current condition.
The last crime Largo and a companion committed was the pumping of bullets into a sleeping John Ronli Calizar, the son of Ferliza Calizar, a Philippine Information Agency information officer and former media practitioner, in the house rented by his girlfriend. While the killing can never be justified, his brother summed up Largo’s mindset at that time.
“Katong iyang anak (Calizar) dili unta madisgrasya. Kahibawo gyud siya nga naa siyay duha ka anak. Wala lang gyud niya barugi iyang pagka-amahan. Pagkakita sa akong kuya nga nagdug sila sa uyab niya sa higdaanan, syempre, lalaki baya, napatay gyud niya,” Jeson Largo said.
The younger Largo can’t be expected to be politically correct, so there were many things wrong in his justification of the killing. But one can find an interesting point there, and that is Jessie’s action was guided by the life of violence that he was leading, where transgressions were penalized with violence.
He lived by the sword.
People like him were not born that way. They grow up in the midst of a violent milieu that is more often than not formed by materials gathered from penury and corruption and eventually adapt to it.
Jessie was convicted by the lower court for robbery and homicide but was released from the Abuyog, Leyte jail after securing an appeal. Stories abound that he was used as a hit man by both the police and illegal drug dealers. Some people say this was the reason it took time for the Talisay City police to get him even if his presence in the city after Calizar was killed was known.
Talisay City Police Station Chief Jason Villamater denied that, but ferreting out the truth on that matter would already be difficult with Largo’s death. That claim, though, will continue to hound law enforcers, even as Jessie’s life would be considered tragic because of this. He could be a rag thrown away after much use.
And this: he lived by the sword and died by the sword.