Building integrative relations toward security is key

Last week saw my wife, Perlie, having to go through a difficult ordeal at the hands of the men who seized and robbed her in a parking lot fronting Palma Hall at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where she teaches political science.

She vividly recalls being momentarily distracted by an urchin talking to a man who looked like a graduate student. As she was getting into her car, a Suzuki Celerio, another man appeared from behind her and pushed her inside, covered her face, and stuffed her mouth with a handkerchief. Her captors told her to keep quiet and cooperate, and that all they needed were her valuables. Two other men then came in and pushed her onto the back seat. They cuffed her hands and feet after forcing her to give them the PIN of her ATM card. They then drove around the campus in search of an ATM, found one, and withdrew her entire two-week salary. When they got what they wanted, they drove her back to the same area where she was held up. They left her the key to the cuffs, enabling her to free her legs and drive out of the parking lot.

Her immediate instinct was to go home, where she feels most secure. But realizing that she couldn’t go far with her hands still cuffed, she proceeded to the nearby Faculty Center and sought help from Prof. Herman Kraft, who was then preparing to leave for the day.

The day after the incident, I went to the Land Bank of the Philippines office at the College of Arts and Letters building to inquire if there are CCTVs installed around the ATM kiosk from which Perlie’s attackers withdrew her money. I was told that the bank’s branch on Katipunan has administration over the ATM. But the solicitous manager of LandBank UP assisted me in coordinating with LandBank Katipunan, who advised me that while no CCTVs are installed in the area, ATMs are equipped with cameras that take still photographs whenever a transaction is made.

With Special Police Bong Rabang, I drove to LandBank Katipunan to view the photographs. The conclusion that immediately came to my mind was that Perlie’s attackers were no amateurs. It was clear that the man who made the ATM withdrawal was aware that pictures were being taken as the transaction progressed. He covered his head with a big towel and blocked a clear view of his profile with his hand.

When incidents like this happen, one becomes anxious: Can we still feel secure in the communities that we inhabit and in the social processes on which our daily lives are anchored? The brazenness of the crime makes us come face to face with the vulnerability that is often only associated with disintegrated communities.

Inquirer columnist Randy David notes that crimes like this are treated as “an attack on the immune system of society that induces the latter to develop new and stronger defenses … as vaccines that will not kill us, and, indeed, can only strengthen our nation’s immune system against … crime.” Hence, after learning about the incident, Supt. Richard Fiesta, commander of Quezon City Police Department Station 9, and whose jurisdiction covers UP Diliman, offered a regular patrol of the entire campus. However, citing a decades-old policy barring uniformed law enforcers from such actions on campus, the UP Diliman Police has turned down the offer.

While my immediate concern is my wife’s safety, I am inclined to believe that the refusal is not without basis.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines “secure” and “security” as: “Free from danger or risk, or loss; safe. Free from fear or doubt, not anxious or unsure. Not likely to fail or give way; stable, strong. Anything that gives or assures safety; freedom from risk or danger; safety; freedom from doubt, anxiety or fear; confidence; something deposited or given as an assurance of the fulfillment of an obligation; a pledge.” The Latin root of “security”—“securus”—literally means “without care.” Following this definition, University of Colorado sociologist Kevin Clements argues that security flows from social processes that reduce risk and enhance normality, predictability and mutual reassurance.

Where there is too much reliance on coercive authority, the options for security enhancements are limited because it highlights the antagonistic over cooperative dimensions of human relations. Further, “to highlight the remorselessness of adversarial factors,” notes Clements, “is likely to exacerbate rather than alleviate them.” Societies that are characterized by the increasing employment of private security agencies and security mechanisms that only the moneyed class is able to afford have little appreciation of the ways in which security processes inform relationships between peoples and between people and nature.

Building integrative relations toward security is the key. It is also the challenge that, so humbly, I pose to UP Diliman Chancellor Caesar A. Saloma and Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Melania L. Flores, hoping that Perlie will be the last victim of daring crimes committed inside this beautiful sanctuary.

Joseph Jadway “JJ” Marasigan (joseph_jadway@yahoo.com) chairs the Quezon Association for Rural Development and Democratization Services Inc.