Wanted: Gutsy crime fighters

A hideous monster descending on our cities and big towns and terrorizing their inhabitants.That is using a figure of speech to better describe the seemingly hopeless situation in this benighted land.What is alarming is that the police tasked to protect civilians from the lawless appear unable to rein in the rampaging hoodlums.

The only consolation of those outside the urban centers is that the thugs are not as daring as those in the big cities. The guns for hire, the holdup men, the armed carjackers, the big time thieves do not strike as often as they do in Metro Manila.

But do not be too confident.If the atmosphere there becomes too hot to handle, the felons may spill over to our remote areas. They may even stay for rest and recreation.

Big cities particularly Metro Manila have turned into almost a battleground.But it is a one-sided conflict. On the offensive are the lawless, the so-called underworld characters. They rob, they kill, they steal your car in broad daylight.

The residents,always on the defensive, shudder in their homes as the criminals strike. They do not have the will to fight.They are not trained to kill.

Scary images of these men invading homes in well-guarded subdivisions, business establishments, private offices brought to the living room by television have heightened people’s fear.It is as if law and order has deserted us.

Criminals strike with impunity even in the presence of countless eyewitnesses.They do not fear anybody, probably because some of them are under the protective wings of people walking in the corridors of power.

Here is a unsolicited advice.Do not walk in unlighted and deserted streets if you do not want to be mugged.Even in Legazpi City which does not yet approach the level of lawlessness in Metro Manila, you place your safety at risk by straying into dark streets.

Our biggest headache is not the thieving public officials although thieves abound in government offices.It is criminality,aided by the weak enforcement of our laws. Convicted felons suffer in jail for only a short period.They are labas-pasok sa kulungan.

That is fighting criminality, Philippine style.

If we could only give life to crime fighters in movieland with their lightning fists and thundering guns,these gangsters would surely vanish into thin air. But that is pining for the moon. Movieland crime fighters are fictional heroes existing only on the silver screen.

But does it mean that we will have to ‘grin and bear’ the unsavory presence in our midst of these evil men?

In Legazpi City,it is not even safe to take a passenger jeepney to Daraga or Legazpi City. Not because of jeepney-riding murderers.But because of jeepney-riding mandurukot victimizing unwary passengers.

A retired Legazpi City sheriff told me he was victimized by a pickpocket while on his way to Legazpi City from Daraga town. Pickpockets are minor criminals. But they should be immobilized.

Who would do the job is a question that should be answered.

And so we place this short Ad, Wanted: Gutsy Crime Fighter.