Killings exacerbate our emotional anguish

 “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.” 

― Sophocles, Antigone

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

AT least eight of the first 10 videos and news posted on social media over the week were about the massacre of nine people in Pamplona, Negros Oriental that also killed Governor Roel Degamo on March 4.

Most of the videos were personal vlogs and clips from news networks that tackled the bloody carnage, which prompted the national government to deploy battalions of elite Army forces in that province to hunt down the remaining gunmen believed to be hiding in the hills, and secure the civilian populace.

Eight out of 10 vlogs assailed the massacre and sought justice for the fallen governor and the eight others. 

At least two or more promoted the crazy idea that the governor’s widow, Janice, the mayor of Pamplona “may be involved” in the ghastly killings.

If they were diversionary tactics meant to smokescreen the real mastermind or masterminds, we are not stupid not to understand what’s going on.

Some criminal minds desperate to wiggle out from trouble always want to win the people’s sympathy by playing victims. A squid or a “reverse psychology” tactic.

The court battle will be another thing. You may succeed in winning the minds of some gullible in the social media through manipulation and sustained lies, but you can’t twist the truth; you can’t change the facts.

In the end, justice will prevail.  

 

-o0o-

 

Some of the vloggers who zeroed in on the widow’s supposed possible involvement could be sympathizers of the now “missing” Negros Oriental 3^rd district Rep. Arnie Teves, the alleged mastermind in Degamo’s murder. 

This may be possible especially when they exonerated Teves and transformed the embattled congressman into a victim of harassment and political persecution.  

All of a sudden, pro-Teves vlogs and social media mercenaries have mushroomed in the social media and hit Degamo, Mayor Janice, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, Jr., and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

Indeed, paid hacks are everywhere.

Now that Degamo has been laid to rest, we expect the number of the Pamplona massacre-related vlogs to slowly thin away in our social media timeline.  

Topics about violence, political rivalry, terrorism, killings among other depressing stories, have only succeeded in planting more hatred and prejudices in the netizens’ hearts and minds. 

The stories have exacerbated our emotional and mental anguishes especially if there was no immediate justice in sight for the dead despite the saber rattling of government and police authorities. 

 

-o0o-

 

TurboTax has been reminding me via e-mail that my tax forms for 2022 were already available. 

I just received my fifth notice since January from the software package for preparation of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) income tax returns produced by Intuit. 

I plan to finalize my TurboTax forms before first week of April and beat the deadline like I used to do. I have no more reason to delay everything beyond the deadline and pay the penalties.

The IRS started the tax season last January 23rd. 

Taxpayers have up to thee months to send the tax return during the tax season. This means that the last day they can send the documents is April 18th. 

“Therefore, sending the documents between these dates means fulfilling your obligations as a U.S. citizen,” warned Tododisca.

“If you don’t send them before this date, the IRS will start applying late fees.”

At the time the tax season ends, “citizens who do not have a special season extension permit will not be able to send the forms without a corresponding penalty,” according to Tododisca. “There may be minor exceptions, but usually, they will have to pay a payment for late filing.”

Can I request an extension to send the Tax Return to the IRS?

It is possible to request an extension to send the Tax Return to the IRS, but it is not common that this organization accepts this extension of time. 

It is only for exceptional cases in which there is an important reason to justify the extension.

“In any case, all citizens can request the extension of time, regardless of whether we receive it later or not. In the case that we have this extra time, we will be able to send the Tax Return until October of the same year, so we have more freedom to do it,” Tododisca explained.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

 

A lousy mastermind

 

“I was extremely greedy and lost my moral compass.”

— Andrew Fastow

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT’S evident the killers of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and seven others inside his compound in Pamplona town on March 4 panicked and bungled the operation (they managed to kill the target but fell one after another like careless jail breakers) after they were collared and arrested in another town some 50 kilometers away hours after committing the macabre massacre.

The reason probably was because they were 1. ill-prepared; 2. under pressure; 3. underpaid; and 4. were led by an amateurish team leader during the execution of the crime.

The CCTV that caught the horrifying shooting tells it all.

-ILL-PREPARED. It was possible they weren’t ready to execute the hit in that location. Based on initial findings, they have been planning to assassinate Degamo since last year on orders of a lousy mastermind. Either Degamo wasn’t harmed because he was elusive, or timing wasn’t on the killers’ side.

When news broke out recently that assassination attempts have targeted some local chief executives (ambush of Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. on February 17, 2023 in Maguing town, Lanao del Sur and murder of Aparri, Cagayan vice mayor Rommel Alameda in Bagabag, Nueva Ecija on February 19, 2023, to name only a few), the lousy mastermind must have pressured the hired killers to “finish the job now” on Degamo to confuse investigators who were zeroing in on other possible motives on the above-mentioned ambushes.

 

-o0o-

 

-UNDER PRESSURE. Because they were probably under pressure, they figured their best chance was to attack the governor in broad daylight even if in front of many people inside his compound after they had failed on several occasions to do it in other places and time. 

The lousy mastermind’s “flight” abroad must have added tremendous pressures on the killers. 

The lousy mastermind must have thought it was best to kill the target while he was away “on a medical leave abroad” to make it easier to feign innocence.

UNDERPAID. One of the confessed killers admitted to reporters and probers recently they were paid only P20,000 each for the very dangerous and difficult operation. 

And the amount wasn’t even a contract for the “special job.” The pay allegedly was in the form of a “cash advance” from their regular “salary” as the lousy mastermind’s bodyguards or goons in his private army.

LED BY AN AMATEURISH TEAM LEADER. Many claimed the killers, who were mostly former military scalawags, “acted like professionals” because they moved with a military precision when they executed the massacre. They also abandoned their vehicles in a not-so-faraway neighboring component city of Bayawan. 

Excited to commit the dastardly crime but foolish enough in not knowing how to cover their tracks. They’re no better than the toy soldiers. 

 

-o0o-

 

We beg to disagree that they are “professional killers.” Seasoned or professional killers don’t operate like amateurs or confused gangsters caught in a waterfront scrimmage. 

Based on their movements as seen on the CCTV, they appeared panicky and nervous during the cowardly attack.

Once they were able to get inside the compound, they started firing at all directions in the crowd, thus it explained why so many civilians, who had nothing to do with their target, were killed and wounded after being hit by the volley of fires from high-caliber long firearms.

No professional killer will agree to do a major hit for a fee of P20,000–in the form of a cash advance (far cry from the P.5 million pay the killers of Manila broadcaster Percy Lapid had allegedly received).

The killers of Degamo, et al might be former military men dismissed from service for various offenses, but they did a sloppy and embarrassing job.

Without their high-caliber firearms, they could have been eviscerated if met by an equally equipped and superior security force.

They wouldn’t have been nailed and decked like scared rabbits while fleeing after the massacre if they were trained killers who knew their way out of dire straits.

They were nothing but a group of patsies, cheap, clumsy, dull-witted, disorganized, and inept shooters who rattled and shook inside their boots while working for a lousy, greedy, brainless, and unhinged mastermind.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)