Armed Violence in a Hall of Justice

The shooting incident inside a court in Cebu City on January22, 2013 that killed three people and injured an assistant prosecutor is not new. Killing happens almost every week. People rarely pay attention to these killings because they are now the rule of the day.  Sadly, it seems that the government is powerless against armed thugs that kill those who could not stand up against atrocities and violence.

Killing in a Hall of Justice is an oxymoron. A Hall of Justice is a physical structure devoted to settling disputes by way of law. It signifies the end of violence and the persistence of the rule of law. A legal dispute, even of the worst kind, is brought to this place so that it can be settled without the use of guns and violence. A Hall of Justice is the personification of order, a testimony to the struggle of people against arbitrary power and violence.

Of course criminals have no respect to this symbol of justice. They are criminals. You could not expect any kind regard to the institution of law from them. To say that they should consider the Hall of Justice as a holy ground is to deny the reality of crimes and violence. They have no obligation to spare their victims just because they found them in this place.

But if criminals could kill without risk even in a Hall of Justice, what else could people expect from the criminal justice system? If the government could not secure this place from armed violence, then, there is no point bringing your trouble to it. Bringing a legal dispute in court could only mean exposing yourself to the easy possibility of being liquidated by your enemy.

If judges and lawyers could be killed with ease by scorned litigants and armed thugs, then, it would be better for us not to go to courts anymore. Revenge would be better because it gives you a chance to get even with your enemies. The spirit that animates the Hall of Justice will then cease to exist as vengeance begins to reap good and bad people alike with such impunity and swiftness. Vigilante and self-proclaimed heroes would give justice that meaning which people have been searching for. Equalizers will room the city. Short cuts will be the order of the day: the faster you kill your evil enemies, the more acceptable it is for the society.

            The government is failing the people. It is self-gratifying itself with the illusion of progress while its citizens chill in fear and anxiety. There is no order in the streets. Even the edifice of justice is marred by armed violence. This is the state of peace and order today.

            It is worrisome that the protectors of our society could not get their acts together. They are even killing one another. The strong arms of the law are cutting each other and we stand dumbfounded and amused by the temerity of the situation. This is a failure of governance. Unless the government can stop the armed violence that plague our country today, its claim to prosperity and good governance will remain a joke.

            Beware! They are killing judges and lawyers already. Soon, law schools have to close. They should start training cowboys and gladiators because hiring lawyers to defend a cause is no longer in. We are back in ancient history. It’s clobbering time again!   

           

Heroes

On January 30, 1994, thirteen-year old Aris Canoy Espinosa, from Lanao del Norte, sacrificed his life for his friends. Aris jumped over a grenade on the ground which was about to explode and covered it with his body to protect his friends who were playing nearby.  He sacrificed his life to save them (see <http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/models.php>).

On May 26, 1996, eight-year old Rona Mahilum rescued her five brothers and sisters from the fire which razed their house to the ground in Divina Colonia, Sagay, Negros Occidental. She sustained third degree burns on her back in doing so (see <http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/models.php>).

On July 12, 2000, eight-year old Enteng Tagle saved the lives of his one-year-old brother and eight-year-old playmate when a 50-foot garbage mountain collapsed on the houses in Payatas, Quezon City. More or less 500 people were buried alive because of this tragedy (see <http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/models.php>).

On June  23, 2007, nine-year-old Antonio “Dan Boy” Fernandez, Jr. rushed into their house in Sitio Cambuntan, Bolinawan, Carcar, Cebu, to rescue his five-year old brother from the raging fire that consumed their house (see <http://www.rdasia.com/philippines_through_the_fire>).

  On July 26, 2011, twelve-year old Janela Arcos Lelis braved through the floodwater while holding the Philippine flag which she had saved from her house in Malinao, Albay. The flag was entrusted to his brother by their school. Their house was already submerged in floodwater when she retrieved the flag (see <http://globalnation.inquirer.net/10317/albay-girl-honored-for-saving-philippine-flag>).

 

These stories are real life adventures of five extra-ordinary young people. Difficult circumstances have tested their virtues; instead of running away, they met them with life-giving determination.

Heroes rise up to the challenges of the time. They know no age but the younger they are, the more meaning they give to the term “hero”. Living heroes awe us while the unlucky who died rise up in our hearts.

Heroes are needed today. The cynicism and hopelessness are deeply planted in the lives of our people. Poverty robes them not only of their dreams but their dignity as well. Corruption and deception are everywhere—honesty and good faith are no longer the rules but the exceptions in public and private spheres. Worse, crimes committed with impunity cow people them into submission to less meaningful discourse about their community life. Indeed, these are the times that should try men’s soul.     

We need heroes. We need them now.  We need people whose lives are testimonies to the resilience of good. We need people who can show us how life can be meaningful in the context of our time.

Movies and telenovelas may entertain us but heroes will do more for us. They will show us how faith should prevail in the midst of hopelessness. They will quench our thirst for justice and will ransom the future so that it can be redeemed from the past.

We need heroes. No doubt about it, we need to hope again. We need to find them; we need to search for them. Should we look within ourselves or should we tread elsewhere?    

All in the Spirit of Fun

The statistics are not yet clear. The Department of Health (DOH) reported that more than six hundred (600) people were injured because of the New Year revelry. Also, it has claimed that at least two (2) children were hit by stray bullets. The Philippine National Police does not contradict the number of persons injured. However, it reported that twenty (20), not only two (2), persons were hit by stray bullets. Three (3) victims of stray bullets have died but only the cases of the two children who were killed in Metro Manila have hit the headlines; the other one which happened in Aklan was given less attention in the media. 

The deaths of the two children are a familiar story but gruesome one. Four-year-old Ranjello Nemor was shot in the back while playing in Mandaluyong City. The perpetrator claimed that the shooting was accidental. Meanwhile, seven-year-old Stephanie Nicole Ella was with her parents outside their home in Caloocan City when a bullet landed into her head and settled in her face. She died in the hospital several hours after. The owner of the gun that propelled the bullet to her head is still unknown to the authorities as of this writing.

Senseless! This is how these acts of violence should be depicted. There is no logic in them. They are inexplicable, except that their perpetrators would claim that they have been caused all in the spirit of fun.

             
             The pain that they have caused is still fresh. Insofar as we are concerned, this pain will pass. Soon, these deaths will become as a mere reminder of the stupidity of the passing year. But in the hearts and memories of the victims’ parents, the pain is forever. It needed not be explained; nobody could argue against that.
             
              Just like any other tragedy, courts will have to deal with these deaths soon—that is, if ever cases are filed against the stupid ones. Most likely, perpetrators will be hailed to court to face the indictment for Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Homicide under Article 265 of the Revised Penal Code. And even if Prosecutors would find it creative and demanding to charge these eggheads with an intentional crime, it is unlikely that any court would pronounce them guilty of anything more than their stupidity. At the end of the day, no court would find them liable to suffer for more than four (4) years imprisonment. Yes, this time the law is soft, but that is the law.
             
               In law, reckless imprudence consists in voluntarily doing or failing to do an act from which material damage results by reason of inexcusable lack of precaution on the part of the person performing or failing to perform such act, taking into consideration his employment or occupation, degree of intelligence, physical condition and other circumstances regarding persons, time and place (art. 365, Revised Penal Code). Strip of legalese, reckless imprudence is simply stupidity in action resulting to the unthinkable loss of lives, or the irreparable loss of one’s future or property. Its perpetrator may deserve to be electrocuted in certain instances; however, the law treats him or her with leniency because of the notion that stupidity is not a crime and that the injuries and losses resulting from it are unintended. Sadly, stupidity is not also a disease, and hence, no cure could be secured for the stupid ones. He or she will continue to inflict loss and injuries even after jail terms fixed by the court for previous misdemeanours.        
               
                 Ranjello Nemor and Stephanie Nicole Ella are dead because of the stupidity of some eggheads. The stupid ones had killed two innocent children in the spirit of fun. No doubt about it. As in the past, the New Year has become an excuse for stupidity to fill the air and for the innocents to shed blood. This has been a tradition. Guns and firecrackers have once again their heyday in the day of the fools.