Arles killing will
influence polls

It’s no longer a question of how many town mayors or solons are for Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez for the next governor of Negros Occidental. The issue boils down as to who had actually had Kabankalan RTC Judge Henry Arles killed by the three gunmen, allegedly members of the RPA-ABB in the province.

“Correct,” Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. declared that a person is considered innocent until found guilty. But that is a feeble attempt to shield Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez from the backlash of the issue.

That, however, did not deter Vice Gov. Alvarez from maneuvering that Marañon is replaced by Kabankalan Mayor Isidro Zayco as the NPC Negros chairman. And that reportedly happened in Manila.

That is a rather underhanded move which may have caught Marañon by surprise, since the claim was made by Alvarez the other day without citing when that incident had happened and who presided over the meeting.

Normally, a chairman is unseated only after the members of the group have come out with their charges against the occupant of the post. There is something really wrong with that move.

I don’t take the position of Marañon. He can very well handle the issue by himself. But I am just puzzled at how a major move by the NPC members could be done in the absence of the respondent/chairman.

Just asking.

And, yes, councilor Benigno Gequillana is right. Not all Ilognons are really behind Alvarez in the case of the mass and prayer rally in his defense. Whether we like it or not, there are always those in the town who may nurse the suspicion that their mayor may have something to do with the Arles murder.

Ultimately, it is not how many of the townsfolk are for or against Mayor Alvarez.

The evidence for or against him and his co-accused will ultimately determine the outcome of the case filed against Alvarez and his co-accused.

And the issue is public perception by others than just the Ilog residents.

While we have our ears focused on the issue of the governorship of the province, it seems that most of us have failed to address the issue of what is happening to Metro Manila with most of its streets flooded.

The TV channels have been giving us the agonizing experiences of the metropolitan residents and their anguished cries for government help.

To a certain extent, the entire thing boils down to the number of illegal settlers that have crowded the metropolis. Over the years that I had stayed in Manila, I could not help but write about the threats that they pose to the bona fide residents.

The Lina Law virtually gave silence to squatting. Right now you just cannot eject an illegal settler from your land or lot. You must be able to make arrangements like resettlement and the cost of ejecting him or her.

Of course, that also enabled local government officiate to make use of the law to increase their supporters even if that means they imperil their communities. Since they number by thousands, they are the captive votes of politicians.

Merrily over the years, the influx into the metropolis of thousands of squatters has become a common phenomenon.

The most miserable victims are retired teachers and government workers who could afford to buy a small lot for their families but find themselves confounded by the Lina Law.

So that what happened is that thousands of hectares of owned property have become hostage to illegal settlers.

Not only there but elsewhere in the country that law has wrecked havoc with the lives of hardworking employees.

Something must be done by the government and Congress to repeal that law. It is the misery of people thrives on the glorification of the illegal settlers,

Something must be done drastically to change the law.

***

The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse continues to range the country. Not only the metropolis and the urban centers, but including the countryside.

And the government keeps boasting of the drop in the crime rate. Yet gunmen riding motorcycle in tandem have been killing people left and right. And usually, the outcome is unsolved crimes.

What is happening to our country? It makes it possible that crime syndicates have been organized all over the country.

Thus, it is common knowledge that gunmen can be hired for as low as P15,000 per head. In short, it has become a cottage industry for some gunmen. A principal cause of livelihood for some gunmen.

In short, the insurgency may have contributed to the emergence of a group of shooters used to be firing their guns with immunity and without fear of getting caught by authorities.

Something must be done to curb the racket in human lives.*

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