First there was 17 year old Kian de Los Santos who had an exam in school the next day. He did not make it for he was shot be policemen according to an eye witness. In a matter of days, Carl Arnaiz, a 19 year old former student of UP Diliman followed suit. He was shot dead by policemen after allegedly robbing a cabbie.
Just the other day, his 14 year old companion at that time was found in a river in a nearby province. Both victims were tortured.
Here’s the viewpoint of one self-employed and a taxi driver in Baguio City. They practically said the same thing, “Sayang ‘yong mga bata. Me pag-asa pa sana maski nagdadrugs kung magreform sila.” The self-employed then added, “Dapat dagdagan na lang yong mga big fish na pinatay nila. Iyong mga hari hari na narco-politicians.”
They also shared the same idea about why the latter, the 14 year old companion, was murdered cruelly after being tortured (he died from a lot of stab wounds).: “Pinatay yon kasi nakita n’ya kung paano pintaay si Arnaiz. Sigurado.” In short, it was a senseless and inhuman murder.
We in the Cordillera, because of distance may not be so shocked as those in Metro Manila were whose kids just might not come home one night to be found a few days later floating on a river. The barbarity of the murders of the kids, at the very least, is spine chilling.
Yet the effect on us is now much more than that as a similar murder happened here in Baguio City. The victim was a 17 year old senior student at the Science High of the University of Baguio. He was reported missing last Sept. 1. His body was found morning of last Thursday when this was written. Not much details were revealed to the public but his murder was really shocking, as the rampage of murdering kids is now at our doorsteps.
With great effort of detaching ourselves from the murders, we try to look at the long term effects of these devilish crimes.
As to the murders in Metro Manila earlier mentioned, the public appears convinced these were inhumanly committed by policemen. Regarding the murder of the Bauio boy, we hope it won’t lead to the same conclusion.
At any rate, we can only guess on the basis of the past. During the time of the late strongman President Marcos, nobody thought he could be ousted from power. But the whole nation which was cowering in fear for decades suddenly got galvanized to stage People Power. The cause was the recurrent abuses of those in power and the police and the military which were their tools in perpetrating such.
Now, the aforesaid murders are seen as similar abuses and there are institutions waiting to lead or provoke the nation to go down the same road we traveled in 1986 that culminated in the peaceful revolution. These are the Roman Catholic Church, the Liberal Party which according to PDu30 is peopled by sore losers, and the Communist Party of the Philippines.**