Death of Karen Kaye Montebon
THERE are many reasons the killing of 17-year-old student Karen Kaye Montebon inside her bedroom in Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City last Tuesday sparked outrage among Cebuanos. One reason revolves around the circumstances surrounding her death. Another reason is about the message that the incident has sent to ordinary citizens.
Montebon was hand-choked to death by her killer, who also tied the cord of a hair straightener around her neck. Her body was already stiff when her father James arrived late in the afternoon, indicating that she was killed in the morning.
The Montebons live in a gated subdivision with blue guards securing the area. That did not prevent the killers, a motorcycle-riding man and woman, to do their thing inside. Karen was alone in the house, true, but she would not have been left vulnerable had her place been well-secured. The message there is that nobody can be safe nowadays.
In this sense, people’s rage is laced with worries about the overall deterioration in Cebu’s peace and order, worries that can only be eased if the perpetrators are arrested and punished. It certainly helps that the police in Lapu-Lapu City has announced that the killer has already been identified.
The question on the general deterioration in the overall peace and order in Metro Cebu and the province, though, cannot be answered using a single killing as proof, no matter how worrisome it is. Additional information still needs to be gathered for us to be able come up with the correct assessment of the situation.
But that people are worried is indication enough that they want more action from the government on the matter of curbing criminality in Cebu and other places. In a way, this is the reason Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, before he announced he is not running for a higher post in 2016, rated high in previous surveys among presidentiables.
The Cebuanos want to be safe, whether they are inside their houses or are outside of it. That is why the Lapu-Lapu City police must work overtime so justice can be served swiftly on the Montebons.