A nightmare if it is true?
With majority of the population suffering from poverty and hunger, you'd think that the gift would be plowshares instead of swords. The congressman would just as soon turn this idyllic, peaceful island province into a den of petty warlords suddenly empowered by a deadly weapon, a virtual private army, to do their bidding. It is bad enough that petty vindictiveness has already been wrought upon non-supporters of the incumbent powers-that-be, but to arm barangay captains with guns is nothing but a deadly ploy to cow the people even more. You have to know the island people to realize how the mere possession of a gun by anyone can intimidate the average resident into a life of fear and submission. The congressman would force this fun-loving, gentle people, his constituents into a life that would now be bereft of innocent joy; a life lived in terror and paranoia. Guns in the hands of a few will sadly change our island culture of peace and fraternity into one of hostility, guarded whispers, at worst betrayals and paranoia among otherwise a peace-loving people. Guns will cleave friendships and fealty to one another to pieces. Guns will kill a civilization of rusticated living, but one so idyllic, peace-loving, abounding with hospitality, trust and neighborliness. Already politics have wreaked havoc among the people, not to mention families that have been rifted asunder. Think what guns would do to a society already rendered fractured and fragile.. People leave the island to rise firstly above their economic deprivation or to attain better education elsewhere. These people virtually plow back their earnings to families left behind. It is not because of any government effort to improve the quality of lives that you see private and personal improvements. The beautiful homes that have arisen in the last decade and ownership of private vehicles are the results of individual endeavor, mostly of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) and other island sons and daughters who have left and found gainful employment elsewhere in the archipelago. Heaven forbid that people flee because terror taken hold on this small island! Why guns? Why not books? Why not medicines and medical equipment for our public hospitals and rural health clinics that are perennially short of supply? Why not seeds and plowshares for the community to develop backyard farming? Instead of a constant supply of ammunition, why not a constant supply of rice to the poor and hungry? How about a sorely needed environmental study and implementation of programs for the protection and preservation of our watersheds and rivers? How about school supplies to relieve teachers of having to spend their own for crayons, cartolinas, and such? WHY GUNS? JUST WHAT IS THE JUSTIFICATION to arm the barangay captains? Are we in imminent danger of an attack by outside forces that we must arm our barangay captains? Who could these forces be? The NPA? The Abu Sayyaf? The Palestinians? The Israelis? Or could the "imminent danger" come from those who might oppose the administration in the upcoming elections? Has the congressman lost faith and confidence in our local PNP force that he must arm the barangay captains as well? Are we to become a "militarized zone"? Who is the enemy? What right does the congressman have to arm a few with funds that should benefit every citizen of Siquijor? This is TAX MONEY that should judiciously, prudently and equitably be spent on programs and projects that benefit the citizenry and not just the barrio captains. What guarantee does the island have that these barrio captains would not abuse the possession of a mighty tool as a gun? Folks, if this is a fait accompli, then Siquijor is doomed. This is a lamentable move. A misguided generosity. Utter tragedy. A nightmare.
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