IT'S said that justice delayed is justice denied. Our country's justice system continue to be in the limelight this season.
"Seek the LORD and live, or he will sweep through the tribes like a fire, it will devour them... there are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground. There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore, the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God almighty will be with you... Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts...there are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. The election fever is on the air and we see those convicted by the court of law still filing their certificate of candidacy and yet people will vote for them. There is this Aguinaldo doctrine that if a candidate gets elected, he gets vindicated and his offenses in the law is made clean. The charges made against him are dropped because the people voted for him. That was what happened in some barangay administrative cases that were filed against them, when they were elected into office, these charges were dropped.
And where is justice for killings in Mindanao, though it is drug related, political rivalry and anti-terrorist operations. Those encounters are widow makers, orphan makers and refugee makers yet perpetuators are free to roam the streets and the valleys of Mindanao and elsewhere. Many were named and identified culprits, some in jail and more are out there free and uncaring of those widows, orphans and refugees. They are refugees in their own lands when their villages and towns, like Marawi, were riddled with bullets making their homes unlivable.
Our community and city alone, we see candidates still filing even when cases have been filed against them and yet people will vote for them because they are the best campaigners and then in the aftermath, people complain because the city never gets better. Some would say I should not be saying this as I filed my certificate of candidacy this coming 2019 election. But I would rather say justice is sought for our city and for our people that we should live in a just and peaceful society with God fearing men and women in the leadership of our city. That our citizenry should take a bigger role in the direction of the Baguio we want for us and for the future, and that means justice served. How elusive but it is within our grasp should our citizenry take a greater role in the direction and the daily life of our community. Yet many have given up and became by standers, letting the unjust and the evil take the helm, the rudder of our destiny as a city. I love Baguio, I love the Philippines, I seek justice and peace for the present and our future. Let the greater mass make a stand in upholding just society and goodness in our midst.