Early and later reports (and major headlines to boot) have pegged the bus incident yesterday along EDSA as a bombing, with 5 now reported. Reports now indicate that an 81mm mortar shell, remotely detonated by a cell phone, was used.
Conspiracy theorists, and most everyone actually, have been making a big to do that it occurred on the birthday of President Corazon Aquino, which when coupled with the recent rise in major crimes becomes disconcerting. Whispers along the way are pointing to attempts at either destabilizing the Aquino administration or instilling an atmosphere of fear and not so subtle threats of retribution for government and civil society aided crackdowns. That these are coming on the heals of a major moves to clear up government up and down the line is used in support. I can’t help but find some merit in the thought. If we are moving towards a country that honors and respects the rule of law; that upholds the constitution and defends individual civil liberties; that cracks down on malfeasance, there will be growing pains. The status quo, that morass that we’ve found ourselves in for decades, is going to be difficult to break because so many of power and influence benefit.
One of the major cases that was making the headlines prior to the bombing was the Dominguez brothers carjack and killing. On the surface the work of the police was exemplary; within two days they had identified, arrested and charged members of the Dominguez gang. Yes, great job and all. Except overlooking the fact that over 20 times were Dominguez brothers picked up and released on suspicion of carjacking and other related crimes. A serious issue with our peace and order situation in the country is the accommodations that are made between so-called agents of the law and law-breakers. The Dominguez case is a prime example; they were known carjackers (even suspected murders), picked up repeatedly and every time released.
Now we have our congressmen arguing for the application of the death penalty for carjacking crimes; a clear example of band-aiding if I ever saw one. Or at the very least over-reacting in an attempt to look important and pro-active (all the while some are likely benefitting from the degraded peace and order situation in the country). Death penalties and such are band-aids, they do not in any way target the socio-economic and political realities that drive government and civil society crime. To address those requires a whole-sale rejiggering of our government policies and various forms of interventions and support.
Punishment only becomes effective deterrent when there is belief that the system is fair and support of all, impartial in application and wholly capable of backing up its rhetoric. Try as we might, you cannot legislate away inequality and crime. We cannot continue to substitute grandstanding moves and moments for nation-building. Instituting the death penalty would just be another in a long serious of grandiose and ultimately ineffectual moves. But even then, the line between a police state and a society that values peace and order can become blurred. At the same time, those resisting change are doing whatever they can to undermine and create a situation that breeds fear.
When fear reigns, how free are we really?
