No crime wave?

By REY O. ARCILLA

‘Noynoy’s chief of police should listen to the news or read the papers daily.’

PRESIDENT Nonoy Aquino’s chief of police, Director General Nicanor Bartolome, denied there is a crime wave in the country.

He should listen to or watch the 6:30 p.m. news everyday. Or maybe just read the papers daily.

Bartolome, however, admitted that criminals have become bolder and more aggressive.

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Noynoy’s chief mouthpiece also feebly insisted there is no crime wave in the country by, hold your breath, citing 2009, 2010 and 2011 PNP statistics.

We are now more than three months into 2012, my dear fellow! Where have you been all this time? In outer space?

Just as I was writing this piece, there came a news flash saying the president of the Universidad de Zamboanga was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Zamboanga City.

The victim, Arturo Eustaquio III, 63, was shot while aboard his motorcycle. The suspects reportedly escaped on a motorcycle.

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The United Nations World Drug Report recently said that the Philippines has the highest rate of shabu abuse in East Asia.

Is it any wonder then that the number of heinous crimes committed in the country has reached alarming proportions, crimes apparently perpetrated by drug-crazed offenders?

Show me a parent these days who is not apprehensive about the safety of his/her child whenever the latter goes out of the house and I’ll show you a parent who has no business being one.

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I knew it!

US Ambassador Harry Thomas didn’t mean it when he was constrained to apologize last year for saying that 40 percent of male visitors to the country come for sex.

To begin with, his purported apology was expressed through a text message sent to Foreign Secretary Albert “Amboy” del Rosario who unashamedly virtually acted as his spokesman.

Last week, Thomas was reported to have reiterated what he said about 40 percent of male tourists coming to the country only for sex (though this time he cited the source of his figure) before a town hall meeting at the Philippine Center in San Francisco. The irony of it is that he also reportedly said “it is more fun in the Philippines”.

The man ought to be declared persona non grata!

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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has all but given up hope in reaching a peace agreement with Noynoy’s administration. This was stated by Ghadzali Jaafar, the Front’s vice chairman for political affairs.

He claimed that more than 200 MILF commanders aren’t happy about the present status of the peace talks.

Earlier, head of the government peace panel Marvic Leonen said that the talks appear headed for a stalemate.

This is a worrisome development. With the multitude of problems facing the people in Mindanao, not the least of which is the ongoing power shortage, another outbreak of violence between the two sides will certainly aggravate the whole situation, to the ultimate detriment of the people living there, many of whom are still recovering from the recent disastrous floods that hit them.

Noynoy had better act fast. Many of his detractors will undoubtedly try to exploit a stalemate to the disadvantage of the whole nation.

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I have always contended that our problem with the MILF, with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) too, will never be solved as long as there are third parties, foreign powers at that, meddling in a purely domestic affair. Our present woes started when the unlamented Marcos regime signed the Tripoli Agreement in 1976.

I believe it’s time we re-think the whole problem through.

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Reminders (for Noynoy’s action):

1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Administration during Arroyo’s illegitimate regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency; 2) investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia; 3) facilitating the investigation of rampant corruption in the military and police establishments; and 4) expeditious action by the AFP on the case of Jonas Burgos.

The above reminders have been in this space uninterruptedly for the last year and a half and so shall they remain until Kingdom come or until Noynoy takes firm and definitive action on them.

In addition, there are so many other anomalies committed during the Arroyo regime that need reminding Noynoy about, to wit:

The Joc Joc Bolante Case (Fertilizer Scam, P728 Million); the more than P1 Billion Macapagal Boulevard (overprice of P532 million); the hundreds of extra judicial killings; the Venable Contract involving former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales; the road users’ tax scam; the alleged misuse of P550 million worth of OWWA funds; the P200.41 billion or $4.6 billion in Malampaya royalties from 2002 to May last year; etc., ad nauseam.

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From an internet friend:

- The difference between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted.

- Alcohol is a perfect solvent: It dissolves marriages, families and careers.

- Archeologist: Someone whose career lies in ruins. An archeologist is the best husband any woman can have: The older she gets, the more interested he becomes in her.

- There are two kinds of people who don’t say much: those who are quiet and those who talk a lot.

- They say that alcohol kills slowly. So what? Who’s in a hurry?

- One nice thing about egotists: They don’t talk about other people.

- Behind every great man, there is a surprised woman!

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Today is the 341st day of the fifth year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.