Now this twist in the case of the missing “sabungeros” in Metro Manila.
One of the primary suspects in the alleged abduction of some 34 “sabungeros” has turned whistle blower and boldly disclosed the other day that influential millionaire businessman-gambler and close friend to some Presidents of the Philippines Charlie “Atong” Ang and four others including a former famous actress, a vice mayor and a police official are allegedly behind the disappearance of the cockfight aficionados.
The whistle blower claims that he is forced to come out in the open because the alleged masterminds have already threatened the lives of the members of his family when they learned that he has cooperated with the police.
Yesterday however, Ang filed several cases against the whistle blower including extortion. Now it can be told why many witnesses would rather keep their mouth shut and eyes closed despite having witnessed personally the commission of crimes, especially when the perpetrator of perpetrators are rich, famous, and influential.
More often, in controversial cases, witnesses could end up accused of crimes they haven’t committed. And usually, they end up convicted because of the way justice is carried out in the country.
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Indeed it is unfortunate that at times, in a country where certain freedoms of people are expressly guaranteed by the Constitution, development projects implementation is oftentimes hindered by the exercise of one or two of such freedoms.
The latest example of these development project is the multi-billion pesos Samal Island-Davao City (SIDC) connector bridge. After decades of being talked about and planned the bridge construction was finally given the go-signal for implementation. Of course it took three changes in terms of location for its alignment and subsequent major upward adjustment in its cost.
As can be seen by island hoppers and those who monitored the status of the project implementation, the more than 3 kilometers span is slowly emerging in the water separating the island city and the Davao metropolis in the mainland.
But again the construction is likely to be delayed once more if the sectors that claim they are adversely affected by the alignment will be favored by the Supreme Court (SC) in their petition for a Writ of Kalikasan. Of course the Petitioners who felt aggrieved by the project have every right to seek redress of their grievances. That is one of the many rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
There is however, a saying that “a person’s right ends where the right of another begins.” Yes, the landowners, the entrepreneurs, the environment advocates have the rights to secure the continuity and stability of their businesses; the environmentalists have their right and freedom to ensure that their causes are upheld.
But on the same vein, the local government of the island city and multitude of its people also have the right to aspire for real development; one that could transform their status to the next higher or even to the highest level. They also have the right, the freedom to aspire for such. Should the local government and the people of the island city be denied of their aspiration? The issues can certainly be addressed if all the stakeholders concerned agree to come together, lay down the controverted issues on the table and measures presented and discussed until these are accepted by all.
It is our take that if the sectors who claim they are adversely affected by the bridge project will remain too literal in their interpretation of the freedoms and rightsguaranteed by the Constitution then the city and people of Samal in particular, and the country in general will never attain their desired development all because many are fixated on the assurance that when they feel disadvantaged by any project all they need to do is invoke the Constitution, go to the courts and refer to their guaranteed rights.
In the case of the SIDC bridge construction, with such move the jeopardizing process of the project starts. And if the petitions are granted by the SC then the local governments of Samal and Davao City and the people therein will again start another long wait for the project to either continue or totally stopped.
That would mean a lot of resources and time wasted. Another dream will be lost in the nebula in the name of Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms and rights to seek redress of grievances.
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