Jaguar

The interment of an alleged drug lord named "Jaguar" last Monday was a significant social phenomenon. It was attended by an estimated 2,000 people many of whom sported black t-shirts imprinted with the face of the deceased and bearing the phrase "We love you." Observers couldn't help but wonder how it was that a supposed enemy of society was so honored during his last moments, a fact made obvious by how his casket was transported. No, this was not loaded into the usual motorized hearse but carried on the shoulders of selected men, obviously his close friends who dutifully trudged the half-kilometer road from the church to the cemetery. What a sign of endearment!

Endearment too was the theme of the priest's homily during the requiem mass celebrated before the burial. It was not just a funeral mass, the priest said, but also a thanksgiving event. For Jaguar's life, we thank God, he said insinuating the good things the latter had done during his days on earth. He didn't have to spell out what these good deeds were; the mourners who heard the mass knew them very well.

What was the secret of Jaguar's life that made very many people lament at his passing away? Many a wealthy man in our midst has had well attended burial rites but not one of these could compare with that of the alleged drug lord in terms of the number of sympathizers and the magnitude of the sense of loss felt.

Surely, there are lessons to be learned here.

One is that sharing of personal resources is important for a person to be accepted and loved in society. It doesn't matter how you acquired your resources or wealth, whether legal or illegal, morally wrong or morally upright. The people who are recipients of your goodness won't mind, especially if they are in dire need of help.

Another lesson is a reminder that peddling prohibited drugs is an illegal act. It is also morally wrong because drug destroys lives even as it foments unlawful acts including rape and murder. Yet to the people who benefited from Jaguar's benevolence he was not a criminal but someone from whom good things come.

You were sick and in need of medication and Jaguar gave you money. You didn't have a regular job and your kids needed school uniforms, books and others, and Jaguar answered for these. And when somebody among your neighbors died, who bought the coffin and supplied the food for the visitors?

Yes, Jaguar was certainly a gift of God to the underserved and underprivileged in that depressed area in Cebu City called Duljo-Fatima. Like other areas where informal settlers abound life there is a daily struggle for survival. And when somebody with a big heart appears and starts  dispensing goodies, who's there to say we don't need you? The giver may be a notorious criminal in the eyes of the law but his good deeds tend to cleanse the slate and he becomes a hero in the mold of the legendary Robin Hood.

No doubt many people have frowned on Jaguar's misadventure into the world of drugs and drug personalities. They think of crippled minds and wasted personhood, of families torn apart and orphaned children, of girls violated and young lives lost.

But have these people ever thought of scheming politicians and corrupt bureaucrats, of cheating businessmen and greedy employers? Like drug lords these too are making people's lives miserable. Yet the big irony is that they enjoy the prestige and acclaim of mainstream society, and when they die how many hours are spent for eulogy, and how long is their funeral processions!

Thinking of this makes one sad. Thinking of Jaguar makes him even more sad. But the scenario doesn't stop there. For even now as the new president is poised to assume the presidency suspects of the drug trade are being hunted and summarily killed.

Will the killing stop the practice? Thou shall not kill, says God. If we don't listen to God, whose voice shall we listen to?