Is Western Visayas now RP's biggest cemetery?

“Never use a cannon to kill a fly.”
--Confucius

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The list of people murdered by the notorious riding-in-tandem killers in Western Visayas, particularly in Iloilo and Negros, and those massacred in “encounters” and police raids is getting thicker; and it appears that Western Visayas has now become the biggest cemetery in the Philippines.
The latest victims, Mercedes Nava, 66, and Erwin Fontillas, 45, mowed down in broad daylight by unidentified killers riding in motorcycle in Brgy. Calajunan, Mandurriao in Iloilo City in the Philippines on January 4, 2019, were another unarmed civilians.
The unprovoked double murder perpetrated in the first week of New Year could mean only one thing: a culture of impunity has now beclouded the “City of Love.”
The killing spree that included the massacres last year of seven suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Antique in August and the nine farmers in Sagay, Negros Occidental in October; the unsolved murders also last year of Small Town Lottery (STL) operator Samuel Aguilar in March, village chief Remia Gregori in June, and ex-cop Apple Alag in November and Bacolod lawyers and Rafael Atotubo and Ben Ramos, to name only a few, means nobody is safe anymore--not even lawyers, priests, cops, journalists, students, farmers, vendors, and drug addicts.

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Every now and then there is violence and bloodshed; and dead bodies are piling up.
If the killings won’t stop, we will soon have to put all the cadavers together in one extended cemetery for all the victims of violence and atrocities.
The reputation of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) headed by Chief Supt. John Bulalacao is at stake here.
The people are pinning their hopes on the police authority for the progress and quick resolution of the aforementioned sensational crimes.
Ilonggos are anxiously waiting for the immediate arrest and the filing of necessary cases in court against the culprits.
As the people’s demand for justice accelerates, the authorities can’t afford to let those cases slumber or be buried in the police files and be subsequently forgotten and become part of statistics.

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Some of these murders aren’t really difficult to crack.
The pieces of evidence and major leads in some of these cases are just waiting to be dug up and unsnarled by determined investigators.
There are many available sources and resources to tap and where to start untangling the ropes of puzzlement: social and mainstream media, community assets, history or background of the involved parties--their affiliations and activities.
If we believe some of the tipsters and sources, most of the hired killers haven’t really left the region and are just waiting for their next lucrative “assignment.”
The motives behind some of these murders can be obtained in the script of soap opera films--jealousy, vengeance, double cross, hatred, envy, avarice, rivalry, politics.
With its vast intelligence resources, there is no way the police can’t put all the dots in their proper holes and solve the puzzles one after another.
We have full trust and confidence on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to finish the job.