Discernment amid the noise

THE appearance of the taxi driver whom police claimed was victimized by 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz puts together a story that is so convoluted, it gives us a full glimpse of the environment our youths are living in now.

It can now be said that yes, Arnaiz, the pretty boy who dropped out from University of the Philippines, did rob a taxi driver. This puts a black mark to the story made around him that he is every mother’s dream. He is not. He could in fact be an example of the millions of children around who had to thrive without the proper guidance of parents who need to seek work abroad, leaving their children to be raised by relatives or just one parent.

As revealed by Tomas Bongcal, the taxi driver who had a scar in his right wrist to show for Arnaiz’s attack, Arnaiz held him up and tried to shoot him, except that the gun jammed.

“And then that time na nakuha na ‘yung wallet ko, pinalo po niya ‘ko (that he got my wallet, he slammed me),” the taxi driver said.

There were witnesses who saw the robbery in progress, who mauled Arnaiz as he tried to leave. It was Bongcal who pacified the mob and brought Arnaiz to the police station where he was just asked his name and personal details and the registration details of his taxi and nothing else. He added that he witnessed Arnaiz’s killing, the details of which he refused to divulge.

“Ang ano ko lang kasi nangyari sa pulis, iyong pagkapatay noong prinisent kong holdaper ay parang may stage play. Parang scripted ang pagkapatay (My concern is that the killing is scripted),” he said.

Arnaiz was killed on August 18 by Police Officers 1 Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita of the Caloocan City police, allegedly after he engaged cops in an encounter. But the taxi driver said he brought Arnaiz to the police precinct, thus painting a different story from what the policemen have been peddl i ng.

Thus, we are seeing here, not just a young man who is full of promise going astray, but a police force that is not above killing suspects following a certain script.

It’s times like this when people have to be more discerning of the things going around them and not just pounce to action and rant. Discernment more than ever is needed to get a good grasp of what is happening and how we are being made a pawn of the events that are going on around us.

Something is happening, and it is definitely not what the left is interpreting events for us. Let us as a people be more discerning than decadesold slogans and knee-jerk protests. For all we know, we being played around with by those who want us to believe that this is about a government of the past being

The unconventional ways of the president not willing to follow the constitution, the Commission on Human Rights, the European Union, the United States of America signed alliance, even the United Nations are hard to understand. He should know that no country can exist alone disregarding the known alliances of the Family of Nations. The latest pronouncement is his calling on any citizen who want him to resign to write him a letter. He will resign if it is the people’s will. Will this happen?

The next disturbing element in our country is the outcome of the Marawi City Siege by the Mautes and the Isis Islamic cult. The news is always this - it is about to end but the struggle is still on. The last bastion of snipers are still fighting. The bombings targeted at certain points in the city are still going on. There are still many civilians held as hostages in underground caves. The dead, soldiers and civilians lay uncollected. These corpses should be taken to funeral parlor for formal burials. So many families are separated from one another.

Marawi City is razed to the ground. Homes, schools, malls and parks are all in disarray. University of Mindanao opened but the safety of teachers and students are uncertain. It will cost gigantic preparations, monetary availability by the government and removal of all debris and removing ruined establishments to accomplish the rehabilitation. Some families returned to their homes just to find that they were robbed of their belongings. Some mosques were destroyed.

The “bakwits” are also attended, too. Donation of food supply, medicines, personal needs have not stopped pouring in from the Filipinos and other countries in the world. Those sick are treated. Some had died, specially children and the elderly. The children are given debriefing sessions. They are given drawing papers and crayons and asked to draw what they want to illustrate. From these drawings the psychologists social workers interpret the traumas of the kids from their drawings and give them the debriefing sessions. The parents are given materials for their businesses which they decide to pursue. These bakwit settlement places may extend to neighboring peaceful places.

The dream of every Filipino to achieve a lasting peace is not far-fetched. It will depend on the government and civic social associations of concerned Filipinos to work hand in hand. Do your part. Stand and be counted. Save our country, the Pearl of the Orient Seas.