Mr. Trillanes! Democracy is not dead

Finally after a long three week hiatus, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was ordered to be arrested by Makati City Re-gional Trial Court-Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda on charges of rebellion. Trillanes was picked up at the Senate by a team of policemen, led by National Capital Regional Police Office Director Guillermo Eleazar, accompanied by a court sheriff. What do you think Trillanes said in his defense? Today democracy is dead! How could democracy die when the Duterte administration used all the legal means to ensure his proper arrest? Would Trillanes be allowed to post P200,000 bail if democracy was no longer working?

To be completely honest about it … Sen. Trillanes should thank his lucky stars that Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte was not using any of his military powers to have him arrested. If you looked into the real story about what Trillanes has done, it was a total disobedience to military authority, which supposedly civilian courts have no jurisdiction. But the Duterte administration is taking very careful steps on the Trillanes case to ensure that he doesn’t get away scot-free for some legal mishap.

If there is any political group that took advantage of the popularity of  Trillanes, it is the Aquino political family. They gave Trillanes political amnesty despite the military mishap he caused that caused a major economic disruption on the Oakwood Hotel and Peninsula Hotels. That amnesty was designed to embarrass then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to show her that the military coup designed to topple her government was a mere military exercise and didn’t harm anyone.

At this point, I still strongly believe that Trillanes should not have been rewarded to take on a Senate seat because it destroys the integrity of our senators. But then the political situation in the country has taken a bad turn when they included Trillanes in their lineup. This is where the 1987 Constitution must be totally revised because it should only allow people of proven probity to run for a Senate seat … while mutineers should never be allowed by the Comelec to seek any elective position.

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With 14 more bodies found by the volunteers in Naga City the other day, it has now brought the number of fatalities to 56 in Barangay Tinaan and Barangay Naalad. The residents in the area blame the operations of the quarry company for the landslide but, in truth, it was the days of heavy rains that caused the quarry to move. Naga City Councilor Junjie Cruz, chairman of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), is supervising the rescue operations in coordination with the local police and other government officials.

Again I would like to reiterate that, whether we like it or not, the Apo Cement Plant or CEMEX may be found responsible for the deadly quarry, but only if it can be clearly proven. While the death toll has reached 56, someone has to pay for these fatalities. But talks about closing the cement plant are premature in my book for this is the first time Naga had a disaster of this magnitude. What is needed is for safety nets to be put in place so that business can resume in Naga.

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Cebuanos have become fearful for our beloved Cebu especially when we had the mayor and vice-mayor and later the mayor of Ronda were shot dead, adding to the many killings in Cebu this year. Things started to worsen when a Japanese national was killed by motorcycle riding assassins, thus creating a scenario that even foreigners are not exempted from the spate of killings that is turning Cebu into killing fields of sorts.

Thankfully, a positive news has appeared in the press when the person who was with the killer of the Japanese national Junko Hamada surfaced. She is no other than Mary Jane Aquilar who admitted that she was with the gunman who killed Hamada last August 24. Mary Jane Aguilar of Barangay Tisa, Cebu City was arrested in an anti-drug operation in that barangay last Friday. She allegedly had in her possession eight small packs and one medium pack of shabu with an estimated market value of P62,000. Also arrested with her was her cousin Alfie Fernandez, 25. At least this gives us the impression that foreigners are not being targetted, except Hamada who probably had a quarrel with Aquilar. At least that murder has been solved.

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