THE vicious murder of the son of a Malacañang executive last Wednesday, by all accounts the victim of a traffic altercation gone horribly wrong, raises disturbing questions. Why did the alleged suspect, 27-year-old American Jason Ivler, drive around in a vehicle with diplomatic plates, when (it has since been established) he himself does not enjoy the status of a diplomat? Why is Ivler free to drive around in the first place, when he was charged for reckless imprudence resulting in the death, through a vehicular accident, of yet another Malacañang official in 2004? And what is the moral obligation of Ivler?s stepfather, a high official of the Asian Development Bank entitled to diplomatic privileges, the very person who allowed Ivler the opportunity to use a vehicle with diplomatic plates in the first place, as far as cooperating with the police is concerned?

Justice for Renato Victor Ebarle Jr., son of Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr., demands a satisfactory answer to these and similar questions.

We will not discount the possibility that the man witnesses described as the killer, and which the authorities have identified as most probably Ivler, was, quite literally, a fatal accident waiting to happen. He had figured in a nightmarish smash-up five years before, his Land Cruiser ramming into the Trooper of Nestor Ponce, the presidential adviser for resettlement, on the C5 Ortigas flyover. Ponce was killed. But Ivler apparently escaped all accountability for the accident: He slipped away from the hospital where police officers had confined him, tried to leave for Malaysia but was arrested in Zamboanga City and then?nothing. To date, the authorities do not know what the status of that earlier case is, or how Ivler got around that second arrest. Given this kind of close, thrilling brush with the law, Ivler may have thought that he could get away with murder, if he needed to.

Of course, road rage is not a merely local phenomenon; in other countries, too, traffic arguments have occasioned similar violence.

And yet: We recognize the truly tragic thing about the shooting. It was not unexpected. It had happened before, and will continue to happen again. A man with a gun hidden in his car; heavy traffic; minimal driving discipline; a culture of lax law enforcement?under these conditions road rage can turn fatal.

Again, we are not in any way suggesting that Ivler?s conduct, if indeed it is proven beyond doubt that it was him who stepped out of the driver?s seat and shot the unfortunate Ebarle at close range, can be excused by the failings of the state. We only wish to emphasize that such outbursts of violence can be greatly minimized in the future if enforcement of the law truly becomes the rule, rather than the exception.

The problem is, driving in the most urbanized parts of the Philippines can be a test of patience even for the most mild-mannered of law-abiding citizens. Drivers who routinely break the law?creating new lanes, brazenly turning left in No Left Turn intersections, dangerously cutting corners?are also routinely rewarded; perhaps traffic aides and police officers do not mean to, perhaps they only mean to clear an intersection, but the result is the same. Routinely, violations of traffic rules are rewarded: Those in the counter-flow are allowed to move first, jeepneys are allowed to dawdle on corners.

Is it any wonder that a person with a gun in the glove compartment can be tempted to channel John Wayne and take the law into his own hands?

The problem is enforcement.

Again, we do not mean to ignore the personal responsibility of the driver who actually pulled the trigger and killed the young Ebarle. But consider this: When Ivler was arrested by NBI agents in Zamboanga City in 2004, he was attempting to escape to Malaysia?under police escort!