Criminally-inclined personas

Bacolod City Police chief, Ricardo de la Paz, yesterday revealed that there always are a list of criminally-inclined personas. That’s his point when he said that there are two personalities here who are behind the Ozamis-Parohinog-Dipolog organized group.

Although he did not name these personalities, De la Paz simply defined one as a business personality and the other a former military man or one with a military background.

The two were reportedly the financiers of the P3.6 million heist of the Ceneco, the first of its kind ever in Bacolod.

The reason why the Mindanao - organized crime group had been frequenting Bacolod was due to the fact that there is no organized crime group in the city.

That’s a big joke. De la Paz by now should know that there are small organized groups operating in the city since way back. That’s why you have several of them, former Bacolod cops who got convicted for the murder-kidnap slay of former Pahanocoy Barangay Captain Eleuterio Salabas.

***

Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, chief of the Philippine Army, deserves the support of church groups and the general population in his appeal to sit and talk people with renegade priest rebel Frank Fernandez.

There’s nothing wrong with Bautista’s ambition. After all, Fernandez, as a former priest, must have also in his heart the desire for peace to return to the province. After all, no sense in continuing with the bloodletting which has not generated the reported desire of the New People’s Army head.

And Fernandez should not begrudge Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Maranon, Jr. for having supported the government policy of livelihood to former rebels, mostly members of the RPA-ABB, who had returned to the folds of the law because they just want to live peaceably and contribute their share of uplifting their lives and those of the countryside residents.

After all, 40 years of armed conflict have failed to improve the lives of people and bring peace to the rural areas.

Instead, what has been going on is the constant shedding of blood. And this does not contribute a bit to the let-up in the killings, most of the victims being civilians and the innocent.

If things can be discussed, both sides may finally a free that the whole exercise is not doing anybody any good. It has only word send the situation.

We hope and pray that Frank Fernandez will heed the appeal by Gen. Bautista for a talk. Nothing is lost with such a dialog.

***

Political mercenaries have been wagging their tongues over the prospect of a formidable and lucrative political lash in the next local polls next year.

One can even say they have been salivating at the prospect of making hay with the prospective clash of titans.

And the impending oath taking of several town mayors of Negros Occidental in the Liberal Party Saturday is the one that has been prompted the tongue-tweeting.

That is why I suspect that there is more to this talk about the impending breakup of UNA.

Just simply because many mayors are joining the LP this Saturday does not mean that they are abandoning the UNA. There are two points to consider the LP is a national political party, the UNA a local political coalition.

That’s why there is a major message form the point raised by Provincial Board Member Nehemais de la Cruz – that the UNA is still pushing Governor Marañon to run for reelection.

“He has not said he will run yet, and there does not appear to be anyone who appears planning to oppose him,” De la Cruz said.

Now also note the identities of the Lakas – CMD mayors joining the LP from the province. The prominent among them are Marxlen De la Cruz of Don Salvador Benedicto. He is the son of Board Member de la Cruz. Then you also have from the second district Leo Rafael Cueva of Sagay City, son-in-law of Gov. Marañon. The others are Cadiz City Mayor Patrick Escalante and Manapla’s Ma. Socorro Escalante.

Perhaps, the other point is that this is more of the exodus from the Lake-CMD to LP. Lakas-CMD was the party of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The head of the party in the province was Kabankalan Mayor Isidro Zayco.

Zayco said there are 16 Lakas-CMD mayors in the province. Some of them had plans to move to LP and he told they them there were free to transfer if they wished to do so.

In short, you ask these political mercenaries – what game are the Negros politicos playing?

Are the current moves designed to flush out who are political predators or is there really something wrong with the UNA? If so, how come Cueva and De la Cruz are joining the LP?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Marañon, however, remains coy, stressing that he is just bent on doing his work for the time being. In short, he is waiting for enlightenment and discernment. That was what he said when I asked him last week.*

back to top