Shocking to read news about ‘imperial’ mayor

I was shocked to read about the allegedly imperial, overbearing manner of Mayor Junjun Binay in his treatment of security guards (“3 Dasma guards who stopped Binay convoy held, freed,” Front Page, 12/19/ 13) who were only enforcing a village rule that only one gate be used for exit after 10 p.m.—a rule that other prominent village residents of higher government rank than the mayor were complying with.

If the incident occurred as reported, does it signify mere “bullying” as labeled in the news item? Or, more realistically, could it portend a possible drift to a government that is feared by the people, instead of a government that fears the people’s opinions? Are we back to the dark days of oppression during the reign of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his kin and cronies in 1970s till the mid-1980s? Is the arrogant wang-wang about to return?

If the incident was reported correctly (video clips showed a weapon being brought out and cocked, and a policeman being summoned to bring the guards to the police station and detained for some time “to verify the firearms of the guards”), does it foreshadow a return to hoodlum governance?  Does the alleged incident raise an ominous forewarning that should any high-handed manner of governing spread nationwide and be blithely accepted by a docile populace, the avaricious proclivities spawned by absolute power displayed by de facto dictatorial governments all over the world could become a curse once more for our country in the near future?

Does the incident presage possible threats to our hard-won freedoms?  If we fail to preserve them against those who might deprive us even of our liberty to enforce proper rules and to continue living in freedom from fear of our government, then our failure will prove to be our own undoing.

—BENJAMIN AGUNOD,

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