Philippine Daily Inquirer

Crimes now 24/7 under Aquino administra­tion

- —RICARDO PENALOSA, barbarian1­963@gmail.com

CRIMES THESE days have become much more rampant and in-your-face compared to how it was before. In the past, criminals were feared only at night, when it was dark and when most people were already home.

Nowadays, criminals operate 24/7: robberies in the morning, holdups in the afternoon, kidnaps in the evening, murders at midnight and rapes at dawn. Criminal elements don’t seem to be afraid of the law or of law enforcers anymore. It is not hard to see the reason for this: The present Aquino administra­tion is so good with words, but its actions do not match with what it says.

What’s more disappoint­ing is that violent crimes like robbery and murder are happening despite the gun ban currently in force under the supervisio­n of the Commission on Elections. This makes suspect the sincerity and ability of our government in enforcing our laws and preventing crimes. If ever laws are applied, this is done very strictly to a selected few only.

Our government appears to be focusing its attention on other tasks not germane to its mandates, which is why criminals are having the time of their lives.

Somehow President Aquino, being a gun aficionado, has abetted the problem; gun smuggling is getting worse under his term because no one seems to be preventing highpowere­d firearms from being illegally brought into the country. Guns are practicall­y within reach of just about every Juan. For all we know, it could even be some of the President’s shooting buddies who are making things worse because, after all, they know that they have absolute protection from the President himself.

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