Kidnapping Capital

THERE is a growing number of disturbing elements in the Philippines today. Some of them, though, have ceased to be disturbing—not for callousness but for resignation and hopelessness in the face of a government and a socio-political system that is sadly engineered to look inwards and not of the common good.

Among the most disturbing is kidnapping of innocent persons. Its frequency and the inutility of the government to resolve it is an affront against the rule of law which, in this case, is seemingly dumb.

In 1993, the CBCP issued a statement on kidnapping describing it as “a despicable crime, a violation of human dignity of victims, a traffic in human being, robbery of the first magnitude. It causes untold anguish to the victims and their families. It sabotages our economy and stabilizes society.”

But despite its being despicable, kidnapping today in this part of the world has gone awry with kidnappers, like the Abu Sayyaf, even making fun and mockery of the well budgeted Philippine Army. Kidnapping is supposedly a police matter, yet here you have a whole army contingent running berserk with nary a substantial consequence.

The government’s public relations bureau recoils whenever foreigners tag some moniker to the nation such as “a country of slaves” or “the most corrupt in Asia”. Well, here’s another one in the offing—a kidnapping capital.