“It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We have long been in the Age of Reason.
And so it saddened us that authorities have not condemned or are adamant to condemn the cold-blooded murder of Bakhaw, Mandurriao, Iloilo City Barangay Captain Remia Prevendido Gregori.
Even the Liga ng mga Barangay Iloilo City chapter headed by our friend, Councilor Reyland Hervias, did not immediately release an official statement to express alarm and condemn Gregori’s grisly killing.
We also haven’t heard any angry words from the feuding Rep. Jerry Treñas (PDP-Laban, Iloilo City) and Iloilo City Mayor Jose “Joe III” Espinosa III.
Weren’t they once Gregori’s political patrons?
Even the police investigators sounded like a broken musical instrument.
Residents of Brgy. Bakhaw and the entire Western Visayas familiar with Gregori’s case before and after her cruel death have been waiting with bated breath for the words of our leading authorities in the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and City Hall as of this writing.
But all they could hear, so far, were ugly stories about Gregori’s background and alleged involvement in deplorable “activities.”
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Instead of denouncing the violent attack on Gregori ( which also killed her personal assistant, Analee Anipatia, and wounded her husband, Bonifacio Gregori Sr., when unidentified gunmen peppered them with bullets while they were inside the family-owned Crystal Beach Resort at Barangay Igcadlum, San Joaquin on June 24, 2018), police blamed the murdered village chief for being “uncooperative” in their investigations on allegations she was engaged in illegal drug trafficking.
Instead of providing the public with fresh and satisfying leads in their initial investigations, all the people could hear were slanderous and unsavory statements that added insult to Gregori’s brutal death.
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Even if Gregori was “evil” as what her critics were trying to portray her (although her constituents who recently gave her a fresh mandate will disagree), no one has the right to kill her.
We have laws that would deal with her alleged transgressions.
The Philippines is a country of laws, not of brute force.
It’s a country that adheres to the principles of due process and presumption of an accused’s innocence, not lex taliones or law of the jungle.
The fact that she was a person in authority and a woman to boot made her violent killing more repugnant and reprehensible.
Murder is a murder and must be condemned in a society regardless of the victims’ character and personality.
Victims of crimes should get justice by all means; and authorities are obliged to pull all strings for solution of any crime committed against any member of society.
Justice must be given to the Gregoris and Anipatia.
We don’t agree with the manner she and her assistant were terminated.
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