Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jan 2006
Source: Sun.Star Cebu (Philippines)
Copyright: 2006 Sun.Star
Contact:  http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1690
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Summary+Execution (Summary Execution)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Philippines

PLEA OF DEAD MAN'S KIN

If the police cannot solve the killing of Wilfredo "Lawlaw" Cabanit,
the least they can do is to respect the dead.

This, in essence, was the plea of Cabanit's widow Brenda and his elder
sister Rebecca to officials of the Cebu City Police Office who could
not stop mentioning Cabanit in the same breath as the illegal drug
trade in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City.

At a time when the activities of so-called vigilantes are being
applauded and calls to respect of human life are easily dismissed by a
big chunk of the populace, the plea of Cabanit's kin may no longer
fall on receptive ear or is even derided.

But this is a natural concern involving not only Cabanit, the 106th
victim of vigilante-style killings in Cebu City, but also the other
suspected criminals gunned down supposedly to stem the tide of
criminality.

For no matter how bad the victims may look to the public, they have
relatives and friends that view them differently and consider their
actions even more objectively.

Cabanit may have been the drug pusher that the police described him
and because of which vigilantes targeted him, but his relatives may
also not have lied when they said that on Dec. 23 when he was shot, he
was a "reformed man" and has "returned to God."

The summary execution of suspected criminals has already taken its
toll on our concept of human rights and due process; let it not
destroy also our age-old values. 
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MAP posted-by: Tom