DURING the 2016 presidential campaign, candidate Rodrigo R. Duterte promised the electorate to end crimes in 3 to 6 months.
A little more than 16 million Filipino voters were hoodwinked and voted him into office. One of the most crucial questions being asked nowadays is: Has Duterte fulfilled his promise to end criminality in 3 to 6 months after he assumed office?
The answer is a resounding NO. The president not only has not solved criminality after almost 3 years in power, but crimes have risen to alarming proportions and victimizing not only poor drug suspects but also important personalities.
In the middle of last year, in the space of six months, three Roman Catholic priests were murdered with impunity. Within a week, three local officials, namely: Tanauan, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili, Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija and Trece Martires City Cavite Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan were gunned down by assassins’ bullets. The murders have remained unsolved.
Last year, San Fernando Cebu Municipal Councilor Alexander Alicaway was gunned down in broad daylight. Early this year, a councilor of the same municipality, Rene Boy Dacalos was shot and killed by unknown assassins. The murders remain unsolved.
On Jan. 17, 2019, Assistant City Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro was shot and killed by a lone assassin.
On Jan. 22, 2019, three unknown assailants with the use of high powered weapons, ambushed the van of San Fernando Mayor Lakambini Reluya who survived, but her husband and two companions were killed. The case has not been solved.
On Jan. 31, 2019, a newspaper screamed “Bloody Wednesday.” There were “three separate attacks on the morning of Jan. 30 that took the lives of two Muslim preachers in Zamboanga City, a National Democratic Front-Philippines consultant (Randy Malayao), and a congressional candidate and her driver in Quezon City.”
From Batanes to Sulu, criminality worsened, instead of being solved by the Duterte administration. Not since the Marcos era has there been a bloody and scary regime as the present one. And yet, the president keeps on encouraging criminals to commit crimes with his irresponsible exhortation to kill bishops and human rights advocates.--Democrito C. Barcenas