EDITORIAL - A cause for concern

Unidentified armed men shot at Anthony John Apura, the barangay captain of Barangay Valladolid in Carcar City, and also the city’s president of the Association of Barangay Councils, around 3:40 p.m. last Monday

Apura was in his car near the Acacia Grill restaurant in Carcar City when the armed men opened fire.

Fortunately, none of the bullets hit Apura, who was the son of Carcar City Mayor Mercedita Apura and Vice Mayor Nicepuro Apura.

As of this writing, police are eyeing politics as behind the incident. Other leads may yet develop as the investigation moves forward.

Apura may have been fortunate, but other officials weren’t as lucky.

Just to name a few, there was Ricardo Mencias of Barangay Camarao in Isabela who was shot dead while driving his car last October. In General Santos City last December, Isedrito Cañete, barangay captain of Glan Padidu in General Santos, was also shot dead. Just last January 11, armed men entered the property of Hulong Duhat Barangay Captain Anthony Velasquez in Malabon and shot him dead.

Recent killings are not confined to barangay captains because mayors have also been killed. Like Los Baños Mayor Cesar Perez, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen inside the municipal compound itself, and Maguindanao Mayor Abdulwahab Sabal who was shot dead in front of a hotel in Malate, Manila, earlier last year.

While it may not be appropriate to sound the alarm about these killings, mainly because it may be that some of them are of a personal nature, we should also be concerned.

Gunmen, as well as those who hire them for their services, no longer seem to think twice about going after government officials or people in public office. When before the fact that one was in the government or had connections to it seemed to discourage criminal action, this no longer seems to be the case.

If those who are in positions of power or civil authority can easily be targeted, imagine how it is for those who are in the ordinary echelons of society.