Gunslinger capital

Is the Philippines soon going to be the “Gunslinger” capital of Asia?

Our newly elected Barangay Captain in Barrio Kapitolyo is a woman and a senior citizen. Try to imagine how it’s going to look and feel if you visit her at her office to complain about how the barangay is being managed and you notice a 9mm or a .45 caliber semi automatic handgun on her desk? It’s not something we want to happen in our neighborhood, but if some officials at the DILG get their way, they would want to arm any if not all LGU officials who may feel there is a serious threat to their life. That is their solution against the string of assassinations done on several elected officials.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines recently issued a statement to all priests who are considering arming themselves or have been known to pack a Colt 45 pistol under their vestments – leave the priesthood. If this surprises you, well it’s a fact.  I know of some priests who have a gun tucked away somewhere. I have seen one parish priest located in the province of Abra who travels with a fully loaded 9.mm. I’ve also heard about one from the Visayas/Negros area who met up with a corporate CEO to settle farmers’ grievances and dispute with the corporation who made it a point to show the CEO his handgun!

But it’s not just barangay officials and parish priests who are talking about arming themselves; there are many members of media who also have travelling companions named “Smith & Wesson.” Other members of media have made so many enemies they now need to travel in a convoy as well as two to four bodyguards!

What many people seem to have overlooked is that arming the potential victims comes with a bigger price. For one it says that law enforcement has failed and that we no longer have peace and order in the country. The Philippine National Police is under the Department of Interior and Local Government. So when an official of the DILG suggests arming LGU officials – are they saying the cops on the block can’t protect us?

Personally, the current threats on lives suggest that priests, barangay officials and members of the media have crossed the line of professional conduct and discretion. If your work or involvement in matters is such that people are actually willing to kill you, then you may have already overexposed yourself or made things so personal that you’ve placed yourself in harm’s way. Those who put themselves and their families in harm’s way have at some point gone beyond the call of duty, protocol and boundaries, not to mention common sense.

To this day people still shake their heads when they hear or see gun-toting priests. I feel sad for members of media who have to watch their backs because someone has placed a bull’s eye on their back. It reminds me of what Christ said: “He who lives by the sword – dies by the sword.”

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Are we about to see a new political movement in the Philippines? Will it be a political version of the anti-sexual harassment movement in the US called “Time’s Up” aimed at misogynist politicians in the Philippines? Will the ousted Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno and Vice President Leni Robredo be able to gather enough support from both sides of the gender divide to go against the misogynists and dictatorially inclined politicians in today’s landscape? Can the “Opposition” translate today’s dissatisfaction with the TRAIN law and runaway inflation and thousands of extra-judicial killings to a legitimate argument to change the composition of Congress? Will the current administration and their political allies ignore the rumblings, confident that they still have the numbers; popularity and the protection of their well fed and financed security forces? Or, will today’s Filipino’s reply with: Ma at Pa ko; or Malay ko at Paki alam ko? (What do I know and What do I care?)

As I watched the ex-Chief Justice speak out against President Duterte, his minions in Congress and the “Gods of Padre Faura,” I was reminded of a time when a lowly housewife started to speak out against a more powerful and entrenched tyrant. Most people understandably condoled with the loss of her “Ninoy” but they probably saw no further than a widow venting their own loss, anger, if not hatred for a dictatorship. And yet, by the grace of God, the Philippines launched the first ever “People Power Revolution.” They say that “History repeats itself,” I would rather that nothing of the sort happens because given the amount of lives and blood that has been spilled in every town and city fighting the war on drugs, one can only imagine how more vicious and wicked a political war or retribution will be once those in power begin to feel real threats against them.

I don’t think anyone has ever noticed or compared how politicians in Mindanao deal with their enemies. Those from the far south have no pretentions about their emotions and their opinion. I have seen high-level politicians in Cebu attack, threaten or insult each other in public even in the lobby of a major hotel full of tourists. We have all seen how the Davao Alliance has resembled a target paper at the firing range as various individuals and camps went at each other in the last year alone. These were or are allies, and yet they are capable of verbal abuse and very public and political attacks against each other. Can you imagine what would happen if things got out of hand in Philippine politics and we end up having a conflict between the North and South?

With the possibility of a new constitution and federalism becoming more real, I have a feeling that politicians of different colors and localities will soon be rethinking their own alliances and future because politics as we know it may soon be facing “Time’s Up.”

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