Make sense of the senseless

The Philippine National Police has to make sense of the senseless.

When Ateneo High School teacher Emmanuel Joseph Pavia was shot dead early this week, the initial presumption was that he was a victim of “extra-judicial killing” and some people started pinning “blame” on the government’s war on illegal drugs. Fortunately although a bit late, information from a “friend” and the PNP-NCRPO provided another possibility: Mr. Pavia witnessed a robbery and was silenced. The case is far from solved and remains senseless not only to Pavia’s family, friends and students but the public as well. If the blame and pressure on the PNP has been reduced by a second theory, it does not mean that the PNP-NCRPO should treat the matter as just another case.

Pavia was a well-liked teacher, working at a prestigious institution, patronized by upper-class families who are influencers of society. He was also reportedly an anti-drug campaigner, which if anything else, should merit the respect and sympathy of the PNP enough to focus and work harder on his case. While Pavia’s family and admirers may be mourning at the moment, their loss has the potential of transforming into a sentiment or a movement that will demand far more from the PNP than theories or suggestions on why Pavia was murdered in cold blood. The last thing that the PNP needs as it pushes harder on their war against drugs, is for lack of information and resolution to turn into a weapon to be used against the PNP.

The only way to honor the memory of a good mentor is to make sense of the senseless.

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President Rodrigo Duterte has started becoming larger than life and that may be a good thing. Aside from his very high trust ratings, President Duterte’s “public persona” has become such that people no longer separate fact from fiction or as I suggested on Facebook: “Go ahead and promote the myth if that is what will take to get local officials to do their jobs.”

A recent Facebook post portrayed the President riding his bike incognito in Metro Manila. As the story goes, the President allegedly saw so much garbage in Muntinlupa City that he decided to drive straight to the city hall where he was barred from entering until he removed his helmet and shocked the city officials into cleaning up their turf.  Some say it’s for real, some say it’s a hoax. But what is for real is that some serious street clean up has been going on in Muntinlupa and Manila. As a result, people want the President to “Bike Pa More.”

It is not such a bad idea for President Duterte and his bike buddies to roam around Metro Manila every now and then to smell the stench, experience the traffic and to see the filth particularly in Pasay City among others. If Mayor Erap Estrada can clean up Divisoria, if Muntinlupa officials can tear down the obstruction and clean up under the Alabang viaduct, the Mayor of Pasay no longer has any excuse not to clean up Pasay and to clear out the illegal terminals between Taft Avenue and Roxas Boulevard along with the Kotong traffic enforcers who are fearless of “El Presidente Digong.” Yes Mr. President Bike pa More!

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While public attention has been on the “public markets” of Metro Manila, the owners and developers of business districts and commercial centers should also spend time outside their cocoons, penthouses and boardrooms and walk around their properties. This past week I’ve been moving around the Makati and Ortigas business districts on foot and I am sad to report that what used to be the benchmarks or standard for maintaining commercial establishments were very disappointing and off putting.

Shoppers who ride or drive cars going into malls are spared the mess because they drive into the many malls, hotels or business establishments. So they won’t notice the mess, the soot, the accumulated dirt, dust and chewing gum on the walkways that surround or connect the many buildings. The owners obviously never see this but it’s all there and it is embarrassing. Maintenance managers are apparently content not seeing garbage piled up or are happy if their street sweepers do their jobs but not much more.

Owners and developers need to undertake a serious and thorough clean up that will scrub not just sweep the dirt; scrape off the gum and other residue and possibly power wash their surroundings. You can’t claim to be world class or high end if you can’t even wash and wipe your back end.

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Why would candidates for governor and mayor team up to spend P500 million up to a billion to get elected to positions that only pays a few thousand pesos after tax? Most people think it’s because of the money they can make from jueteng. Others assume they are going after the kick back from local business and construction projects. Last Wednesday, I learned the real meaning of Narco-Politics.

A friend of mine who comes from a family involved in “old world politics” shared how none of them could beat or compete with new politicians because of the billions they spend to buy votes just to make sure they are in control of their towns in the Visayas and Mindanao. Many of these “new” politicians control coastal towns or provinces and have lifestyles that cannot possibly be sustained by local economies or political corruption. The available money or political funds are simply too small for anyone to invest half a billion to a billion in vote buying. They need to control the coast or the island towns because that is where shipping, delivery, drop-offs and even production of illegal drugs take place.

In order to cover up their illegal drug trade, the politicians build up mini malls, resorts, hotels, and casinos and other tourist spots, trade zones and the likes in order to make it appear that they are managing a prosperous locality. Now we know what Narco-politics and real money laundering is in the Philippines.