LOLO PEPE DECENTECEO, 97; ALFONSO DE VERA, 51; LIA ALLANA DE VERA, 7
I am writing this piece with a heavy heart. I just got back from the Funeraria Paz/Manila Memorial Park on Sucat to pay my respects to one of the dearest and sweetest persons I have ever met in my life - Felicisimo Decenteceo, who passed on peacefully the other day to be with our Lord who has most certainly prepared a wonderful place for him in heaven. He was a friend to all, stranger and acquaintance alike. A towering figure at the Silliman University, his second home. Lolo Pepe was a complete man and a compleat man, as well as a gentleman and a gentle man. He loved life, and life loved him back. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lived to reach a big number like 97. He was a faithful member of the International Evangelical Church of Alabang (IECA) and a prayerful man who knew his mission in life and lived it until the afternoon of December 4, 2008 when the Lord finally called him to eternal life. I salute Lolo Pepe knowing that I shall be seeing him again someday. But he is not the reason for my heavy-heartedness. It was another funeral on the ground floor, right below Lolo Pepe's room. A heart-breaking father and daughter funeral, innocent victims of brainless, trigger-happy Paranaque City PNP who killed them yesterday evening December 5 in a subdivision near Sucat just close by the old rotunda. Alfonso De Vera was 51, while Lia Allana De Vera was only 7. Now why do I say "murdered?" Because the PNP as usual, didn't do their homework on the rules of engagement. Imagine, a case of mistaken identity (again), this time an innocent man and an innocent and helpless child whose vehicle was peppered by murderous cops unschooled on proper procedure when conducting manhunt operations subsequently leading to a one-way target-practice. Did they really think that a 7-year old girl would be engaging them in a gun-battle? Bobo-cops, aren't they? And what were they thinking? These trigger-happy devils in uniforms must all be locked-up in jail for the rest of their lives. We prayed for Lilian De Vera, now a stunned and grief-stricken widow and mother whose husband and daughter were objects of a carelessly planned operations by the Paranaque Special PNP Team. Shame on you people. For a change, us citizens would like you all to be at the receiving end. As I was seated face-to-face with Lilian, holding her hand, my only prayer was for God to embrace her tight and never let go of her. It could have been anyone of us who have to face each day with the incompetence and stupidity and amateurish ways of our PNP. To catch a handful of Waray-Waray gang members, was it normal procedure for the PNP leadership to deploy a battalion of policemen? Shame on the PNP and shame on PNP Chief PGen Jesus Verzosa who had nothing better to say to the poor widow but "Sorry po, pasensiya na po, this is part of the risk during PNP operations..." Are these the same men who on oath swore to uphold the law and protect the citizenry? The same men who will now murder us on mere suspicion? What will the PNP spokesman say next? "Our policemen's lives were in danger as they were being shot at by the seven year-old girl who was indiscriminately firing her M-16 rifle at them..." We are not asking for justice for Lilian, her husband and their sweet daughter, General Verzosa. We demand it! Be a responsible true officer and gentleman, and not just some apologetic old boy scout. Give the De Vera family proper compensation for loss of income too. Well, next time when vigilante citizens hit on the police because of a simple case of mistaken identity, that's when they will feel how it's like to be innocent by-standers who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Where now does the PNP's code of Service, Honor and Justice fit in? Paranaque's Finest has now become Paranaque's Murderest.
I am writing this piece with a heavy heart. I just got back from the Funeraria Paz/Manila Memorial Park on Sucat to pay my respects to one of the dearest and sweetest persons I have ever met in my life - Felicisimo Decenteceo, who passed on peacefully the other day to be with our Lord who has most certainly prepared a wonderful place for him in heaven. He was a friend to all, stranger and acquaintance alike. A towering figure at the Silliman University, his second home. Lolo Pepe was a complete man and a compleat man, as well as a gentleman and a gentle man. He loved life, and life loved him back. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lived to reach a big number like 97. He was a faithful member of the International Evangelical Church of Alabang (IECA) and a prayerful man who knew his mission in life and lived it until the afternoon of December 4, 2008 when the Lord finally called him to eternal life. I salute Lolo Pepe knowing that I shall be seeing him again someday. But he is not the reason for my heavy-heartedness. It was another funeral on the ground floor, right below Lolo Pepe's room. A heart-breaking father and daughter funeral, innocent victims of brainless, trigger-happy Paranaque City PNP who killed them yesterday evening December 5 in a subdivision near Sucat just close by the old rotunda. Alfonso De Vera was 51, while Lia Allana De Vera was only 7. Now why do I say "murdered?" Because the PNP as usual, didn't do their homework on the rules of engagement. Imagine, a case of mistaken identity (again), this time an innocent man and an innocent and helpless child whose vehicle was peppered by murderous cops unschooled on proper procedure when conducting manhunt operations subsequently leading to a one-way target-practice. Did they really think that a 7-year old girl would be engaging them in a gun-battle? Bobo-cops, aren't they? And what were they thinking? These trigger-happy devils in uniforms must all be locked-up in jail for the rest of their lives. We prayed for Lilian De Vera, now a stunned and grief-stricken widow and mother whose husband and daughter were objects of a carelessly planned operations by the Paranaque Special PNP Team. Shame on you people. For a change, us citizens would like you all to be at the receiving end. As I was seated face-to-face with Lilian, holding her hand, my only prayer was for God to embrace her tight and never let go of her. It could have been anyone of us who have to face each day with the incompetence and stupidity and amateurish ways of our PNP. To catch a handful of Waray-Waray gang members, was it normal procedure for the PNP leadership to deploy a battalion of policemen? Shame on the PNP and shame on PNP Chief PGen Jesus Verzosa who had nothing better to say to the poor widow but "Sorry po, pasensiya na po, this is part of the risk during PNP operations..." Are these the same men who on oath swore to uphold the law and protect the citizenry? The same men who will now murder us on mere suspicion? What will the PNP spokesman say next? "Our policemen's lives were in danger as they were being shot at by the seven year-old girl who was indiscriminately firing her M-16 rifle at them..." We are not asking for justice for Lilian, her husband and their sweet daughter, General Verzosa. We demand it! Be a responsible true officer and gentleman, and not just some apologetic old boy scout. Give the De Vera family proper compensation for loss of income too. Well, next time when vigilante citizens hit on the police because of a simple case of mistaken identity, that's when they will feel how it's like to be innocent by-standers who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Where now does the PNP's code of Service, Honor and Justice fit in? Paranaque's Finest has now become Paranaque's Murderest.
(Image from ( http://wikipilipinas.org/)
