Melinda "Mei" Magsino
Philippine Daily Inquirer
April 13, 2015, in Batangas City, Philippines
Magsino, 40, a former correspondent for
the Philippine Daily Inquirer, was shot dead before noon near her
apartment in the village of Balagtas. Police citing security footage said the
gunman escaped on a black and white Honda motorcycle driven by another man,
according to news reports.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), an
agency in the Philippines government tasked with investigating high-profile
cases, said it was searching for the two suspects, who had waited and followed
Magsino as she exited her apartment. The agency said it was also looking for a
group of men who were in a maroon van, who served as backups for the killers,
Vicente de Guzman, NBI's acting deputy for investigation, said, according to news reports.
Magsino's friends and family attributed her
murder to her years-long investigation of local officials. Magsino had reported
on local corruption, including a governor's alleged links to illegal gambling, and wrote
exposés for news outlets such as the Inquirer and the
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
Actually the list of media killings is long. The latest is that of a radio broadcaster in Ozamiz City. Not only are killings happening here. Even abroad, the Islamic terrorists are into the same business of obliterating people on earth with nary a sense of guilt. These people also rape girl children and use Quran passages to defend their acts.
Why is life so cheap nowadays? Perhaps we should have researches on how to talk with the dead and for us to be able to go to the other world and come back on earth. In this manner, killings could be minimized for it would be useless to conduct them as people can always come back one earth if they want to. That is really funny. \
But I think it is only the government which can define whether human lives should be respected or not. The way officials react to killings should define how the ordinary folks themselves should deal with other humans. If officials are insensitive the the killings would look as ordinary events. If they react with great uproar, then that means lives are important and they should be protected.
If they ignore murders and killings then that means, we need to check whether we have the proper government or not for our country.
I think every government agency should have protocols on how to react to killings. The Public Information Agency, the Secretary for Communications, PTV 4, Radio BR, and all other government communication outlets should magnify those issues pertaining to media killings, especially. They should not look nonchalant and appear innocent, have an "e dI wow" attitude, or end their reactions to giving money to the families of victims. Genuine caring should be cultivated.
For another example, when an OFW died in the prison cell, did we hear any reaction from the DOLE, the OWWA, the POEA or the DFA? Nada, my friends. I just heard over DZXL the pleadings of the mother for the return of the body of her son whom he talked to a few days ago.
Eventually, when God will call all of us to account for our actions, how shall we respond? "A, er, God, e, ...I don't remember. Is that important to do?"
Funny indeed. life is so cheap that to see blood spilt on the road no longer brings us horror. Parang nakakita lang tayo ng baboy na kinatay at nakalatag sa kalye. This was how I saw people crowding around a young teenager sprawled along Commonwealth Avenue and with blood spread around him. They did not look horrified.
And maybe, the Education Department could start extra sessions after academic classes to ingrain among the children and all students from elementary to college the value of human life. Humanities classes, subjects should be given emphasis.
We were able to undergo many Humanities subjects at UP -- about western art, literature, and films when we were in college. They immersed us on how the western world values artworks which are individual expressions of artists and writers.
Coupled with humanities subjects should be lessons on the environment to make the students and especially children value living things which could extend to making human lives themselves important.
I think our culture has undergone too much destruction -- especially with the high rise in drug-related incidents. A need exists to deeply examine what has gone wrong with our culture so that murders, killings and all kinds of destruction of living people and things will be stopped forever. With regard to the Islamic countries' dilemma of dealing with the terrorists, I also think that they should have a united front against "suicidal bombings" and beheadings. I think that their religion could stand a bit of reinterpretation should it not be too explicit on how to deal with such issues.
How long shall we suffer now? According to Brahma Kumaris sisters and brothers, Pain is real, but Suffering can be ended. Meaning -- we could experience pain but it does not mean we should allow it to fester in our system.
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