Is the heat affecting criminals?

Poor Manny Pacquiao. Aside from the problems he is facing with the Bureau of Internal Revenue hot on his heels, here comes an imaginative reporter who apparently put some words in his mouth that got the ire of the gay community, especially in the United States. According to that reporter, Pacquiao had quoted to him verses from the Bible condemning homosexuals. The gays are making quite a to-do over it.

***

But Pacquiao has denied that he had said what the writer reported. And he is apparently righteous about it because what that person said was that Manny Pacquiao quoted from Leviticus in his condemnation of homosexuals. The boxing idol was adamant, he said he may be fond of reading and quoting the Bible, but he hadn’t yet gone as far as Leviticus. He also stressed that he is not condemning gay people as he even has relatives who are gay.

***

Maybe it’s the excruciating heat that is making people irritable and liable to react angrily at matters that they would have ignored before. Could it also be the unusual temperatures that are causing some people to commit the most heinous crimes? Some of the killings being reported recently are so cruel, so unnatural, that one can only wonder if the perpetrators are still in their right minds. Could the murder of Dr. Andres Gumban, that was so brutal and senseless, have been caused by minds warped by extreme heat?

There is however, the alleged admission by the perpetrators that they were using drugs and must have been “high” when they did it. But the police seem to suspect that the incident could have been triggered by reasons other than just a spur of the moment robbery and homicide. Perhaps, when the two men who seem to have been caught in fragante delictu come down from their drug-induced euphoria, they may be able to reveal more about the incident.

***

Despite the fact that there are now several buildings and even a big port that is bustling most of the day, and even at night, the place in Bacolod formerly known as the “Reclamation Area” continues to be the setting for so many bloody incidents and killings. Bodies have been found there, a vehicle containing a couple fell into the sea, and only the other day, the body of a person, described as a homosexual, was found with stab wounds all over it.

***

Long before the SM Mall that covers quite a large area, was constructed, and the port was not yet developed, the Reclamation Area was covered with tall and thick cogon grass, that made it an ideal hiding place for criminals. But now with the developments there, it is strange that it continues to be the dumping ground for bodies, or the place where killers like to do their thing. This is an area that had been reclaimed from the sea, and the superstitious may tell us that paranormal things are responsible. Maybe the place needs some kind of exorcism rites to counter that? I wonder if anybody had made a tally or body count of those killed or dumped there.

***

The revelations that were made by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales when she appeared as witness in the Corona impeachment trial must have sent sliver of fear into the hearts of some senator-judges. Morales had disclosed bank figures that were supposed to be covered by the bank secrecy law, and now she tells them that there can be a way, and that the Anti Money Laundering Council is one of them.

***

So some of them are now questioning the powers of the Ombudsman, who told them that a provision in the form of the Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth that they signed is the authority she banks on to make her investigation. Now the solons are looking into that waiver, and are reportedly looking for ways to amend the form. Why do you suppose they are that concerned? Are they afraid that they, too, may get their turn in an investigation?*

back to top