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Editorial of the Bohol Sunday Post, May 31, 2009

 Where’s the outrage?

 There is something disturbing about the lack of outrage on the spate of hold-ups and robberies in the province.

 It has become regular fare for news writers to the point that editors now routinely ask for such stories before finalizing the lay-out. It is as though hold-ups in Bohol have become part of life and there is little that we can do about it.

 Is it really?

 Robberies and hold-ups are peace and order concerns. They are part of the governance and the responsibility of government officials. While they politicians fall over each other in trying to put their best foot forward, few seem bothered by the brazenness of criminals who strike anywhere and all over.

 Government critics would naturally harp on the economic crisis and how people are forced to embrace a life of crime just to keep mind and body together. This logic is of course flawed and outrageous.

 Most of those who resort to robbery and hold-ups are people who want to live beyond their means. Criminals have noble intentions only when they are caught and placed under the glare of the camera.

 It is disheartening to note that law enforcers appear to be helpless in dealing with the robbers. It is even more frightening to think that there seems to be no solution in sight.

 The advent of school openings ups the ante even more. It is not so much because the perpetrators need to spend for the educational needs of their children. It is more of timing, striking against people who carry cash instead of POs.

 What is striking about this whole episode is that the robbers seem to prefer locals to tourists. This is strange because conventional wisdom tell us that foreigners normally are more loaded than Filipinos.

 Is this merely a coincidence? Or are we missing something?

 The tourism industry is a multi-million business that is as fickle as human nature. Just a few incidents of tourists victimized by highwaymen and the industry goes up in smoke.

 We don’t know which is worse though: lending firms owned by Filipinos or foreigners with a few extra cash to spend on vacations. Either way, the presence of gun-toting criminals on the road should be enough to cause panic among the people and the appropriate response from those in government.

 So where is the outrage? Perhaps, people have become too disinterested to complain. In any event, that is an indictment of the state of governance.   

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