Cold-blooded killings

And here we are again, Cebu. Last Thursday at least five people were gunned down by unidentified men in different areas around the province. This happened a day after former Medellin mayor Ricky Ramirez was also killed inside a private hospital. Nobody can quite explain these killings. We only hear words such as "men wearing a bonnet", "riding a motorcycle" and the like. As if that will ever solve the mystery of killings in the province.

Despite the prayers of the church to stop killings, they still continue. While they are at it, there is a major revamp within the PNP. Although I don't want to draw any conclusions, the timing just seems so perfect. I just hope my conscience is wrong as to who are the perpetrators of these gruesome crimes. When will it ever cease? I'm scared that I might wake up one day and my loved one has been gunned down too. What makes it worse that you can’t defend yourself when facing a gun. Suddenly, the power of the firearm overtakes the whole person and it is bound to kill people and break the hearts of their families.

I'm scared that the Cebu that I know will not be flocked by tourists. There might be a time when instead of us being proud of our place, we will be known as a place where it isn’t safe to walk about the streets a night. What can we do to prevent these from happening? Nothing, I guess. Well, only if there are enough policemen and other authorities that will serve as eyes in the community. The problem now is the lack of personnel and many jobs a policeman has to do within the day. Heck, even policemen are victims in this killing dilemma.

If prayers work wonders, then I suggest that we never cease to call out to God for these alarming times. This is not normal, after all. We are supposed to enjoy the freedom endowed to us by our forefathers after their fight in the revolution but here we are, scared to even point fingers at the government. We live in a different time where fear overrules despite your upbringing and position. Is this the new Philippines? I don't want it.

We don't have a choice but to just live with reality but this is the reality that I don’t want to be in. I hope the heavens hear us. There is just too much bloodshed, too many lives wasted. We were born in this world for a purpose, and we are bound to fulfill it. Nobody has the right to take it away from us like stealing candy from a store. I guess we should fight against these killings and vow to keep crime at a minimum.