Considering total gun ban for good

With election fever heating up and lines being drawn in the sand, we know that things are going to get extremely tense in the coming months. After all, now that a clear list of candidates has been assembled, people will begin fully taking sides and making a stand on issues. It only seems clear that things are going to get a little crazy before the actual election day arrives.

After all, crazy can already be seen as early as now just during the filing of candidacy. I’m sure the Philippines looks like a joke at this moment to anyone looking from the outside. Over 100 presidential hopefuls? I could barely believe my eyes when I saw it on the news. But every single day, more and more people filed their candidacy for president. It’s ludicrous. However, at the end of the day, I think the voting public knows who the solid candidates are in the running, I just bring this up to show a sliver of how crazy it is probably going to get in the months ahead.

With that in mind, I think it’s a good call that the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) is pressing for the implementation of the total gun ban during the election period. I think this is a solid plan and is something that should truly be considered. In previous years, violence erupted as early as filing of candidacy during which political battle lines are made and crossed. To lose any more lives to senseless political rivalries would be a complete travesty.

Plus, as the PPCRV mentioned, allowing candidates to campaign with their fully armed bodyguards and entourage will only continue to sow fear and discord among voters and set the wrong kind of example. After all, fear and distrust is no way to run a campaign. Are we to just allow a candidate who is not as well “armored” as his opponent feel bullied and just withdraw? Plus, it’s important to think of the well being of the constituents who could potentially get caught in the cross hairs of an eruption of political violence.

In fact, if you were to ask me, I would support a total gun ban in general. Much like the PPCRV proposed I would be okay with exceptions being given only to police and military officers as well as protection for the president, vice president, Senate president, House speaker, and chief justice. I don’t see the need for others to carry guns. I’m just not an advocate of the right to bear arms.

The problem with a gun ban though, whether or not it’s during the elections or in general, is that implementation would be a nightmare. While the intention may be good, it would be a miracle if it could actually be implemented without exceptions and prejudice. Off the top of my head I know that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would not adhere to any such gun ban. The New People’s Army (NPA) would probably be the same. How could a gun ban be implemented while some remain exempt? Plus of course there are those criminal kingpins so deeply entrenched in power and secrecy that will most definitely refuse to give up their arms as well.

In the end, without the full and dedicated support in implementation, the only ones the gun ban would actually affect are the law-abiding citizens who purchased their arms legally within the confines of the law. And if you think about it, these are the gun owners that we actually don’t have anything to fear from. Would the ban just be a hallow promise if we couldn’t actually take the guns away from those that mattered the most?

Personally, sometimes I can’t help but feel like it’s the Wild West in the country these days. Criminals commit crimes without fear of persecution and they run rampant. I think the former Mayor Fred Lim and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte are both on the right track. Sometimes you have to be scary to catch the bad guys and put the fear of God in them. That seems to be the only way to actually get any results.

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On a more positive note, I was happy to hear that a new polytechnic school is set to rise in Cavite, just roughly an hour’s drive from where we stay. I learned of the school groundbreaking from my good friend Carlos Chan whose philanthropic work I had witnessed firsthand both here and abroad.

He believes the establishment of the polytechnic school will greatly help the constituents of the Imus government, especially those looking for a technical education. I have to agree. There are so many students who are yearning to learn, but are without opportunities and means. With the rise of this new institute, more students will have better chances of gaining the skills they need to succeed in life.

The institute will rise on a 720-square meter lot lent by Chan C. Bros. Inc.(CCBI), the company owned by Chan. The property has been assigned for the use of the school free of charge and CCBI will additionally shoulder the cost of the construction for the three-story building.

The school is being created in partnership with the Imus city officials and China’s Huanggang municipality, who were led by Deputy Mayor Chen Shaomin at the groundbreaking ceremonies last Oct. 19. The building is set for completion in time to welcome the first batch of students for school year 2016-2017.

Personally, I feel we need more projects like these. Educating our youth is how we can ensure they have a better future and giving them opportunities to learn and receive scholarships can really help change lives. As I’ve mentioned in past columns, education, healthcare, and infrastructure are the platforms I feel need to be addressed the most if we truly want to see growth in the country.