On weak gov’t institutions and mechanisms
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Back in my home city after four back-to-back workshops in Metro Manila and Davao City in the last two weeks, I am saddened by reports of recent violent incidents happening in my city while I was away.
Local radio reports described four shooting incidents here that occurred within the last two weeks. These all took place in broad daylight, in front of children and other witnesses, by unknown assailants riding motorcycles and wearing dark-tinted helmets, who managed to get away faster than local police authorities could chase them.
We migrated here more than three decades ago, thinking that it was a much more peaceful place than where we came from. We thought that moving away from Cotabato City to Gensan, as it is popularly called, would be for our peace of mind.
But hearing the latest incidents of violence here that killed at least four people, including a passenger of the tricycle whose driver was the main target of the assailants, showed that acts of violence know no geographical or political boundaries. Violent incidents have been normalized anywhere in this country, and this started a long time ago in several hotspots. It has since managed to be diffused outside the once-famous “epicenters” of violence—Cotabato City and the two Maguindanao provinces.
More than 10 years ago, former Cotabato City Mayor Frances Cynthia J. Guiani-Sayadi banned the wearing of helmets among motorcycle drivers in the city. This policy was crafted to address several incidents of killings by riding-in-tandem assailants, who were on board motorcycles wearing dark-tinted helmets.
This policy is still in place, under the leadership of Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao. But it has not stopped people from being killed in Cotabato City and its outskirts, in the two Maguindanao provinces. Killers were usually riding in tandem on motorcycles.
The nonhelmet policy is quite dangerous for motorcycle drivers and riders. It cannot protect them from a possible vehicular accident that could cause instantaneous death.
Such a policy manifests that our regulatory systems are weak. The wearing of a helmet might embolden an assassin to do his “assigned” killing job, but it is also an acceptance of the weak regulatory system in a locality that issues this kind of policy. What are local police officers doing to prevent such things from happening? What has happened to the gun bans issued, especially during the campaign period, which is also the “hottest” period for assassins to carry out their mercenary missions? What measures are local and regional peace and order councils taking to prevent these incidents and create a more peaceful environment for constituents? How are laws against illegal firearms being implemented?
These questions lead to the reality we see today in our local, regional, and national governments. We see more and more weak institutions made even weaker by dark policies, like the absence of transparency and accountability.
Weak institutions have become enablers of various types of crimes, from petty theft to massive acts of corruption committed by those who have been elected to run different levels of government.
More importantly, weak institutions have incubated several violent acts, like extrajudicial killings and guns-for-hire killings. All of these have become normalized in weak systems of governance, making people accept state-led violence as part of normal life, including vigilante-type killings by guns for hire.
Weaknesses of our government institutions reached their height during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte through his deadly war on drugs.
It took the International Criminal Court to enforce a universal dictum that strong political institutions should guarantee civilian protection against the abuses of people in authority, like the President and his chief police enforcers. At that time, no national government institution was strong enough to stand up against Duterte to call him out. Government institutions then were all controlled by Duterte supporters, including justices of the Supreme Court.
Duterte also appointed an Ombudsman who issued a ruling that the statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth of top government officials was not to be disclosed to the public, not even to the media. That ruling clamped down on all mechanisms of transparency and accountability of government officials, who are supposed to disclose all their wealth prior to being elected to public office.
The absence of transparency and accountability shows that darkness has engulfed our government systems, making them weaker over time. Weak institutions become enablers of crime and violence that not only kill people but also our democratic institutions.
—————-
Comments to rcguiam@gmail.com
