Bam Aquino to Filipinos: Stand up vs culture of violence

Senator Bam Aquino on Wednesday called on Filipinos to stand up against the culture of violence, saying they should “not grow numb” to the series of killings in the country.

The senator expressed his concern on the apparent growing apathy of many Filipinos on the alarming culture of violence in the country.

“Hindi na tayo natuto. Patayan at pagdurusa lang ang idudulot ng karahasan,” he stressed in a statement.

“Sa bawat Pilipinong pinapatay mayor man yan, pari o tambay, inuusig ang konsensya natin bilang isang bansa”, added the senator.

He also extended his condolences to the kin of Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio town in Nueva Ecija who was shot dead on Tuesday.

Bote was the second mayor killed in two days.

On Monday, Tanauan City Mayor Antonio Halili was gunned down by a sniper as he was attending a flag-raising ceremony.

“Kaliwa’t kanan ang patayan kahit sa harap ng maraming tao. Wala nang pinipili ang nagiging biktima – opisyal ng gobyerno, pari, tambay. Wala nang ligtas kahit saan, kahit sino,” he said.

Aquino earlier filed Senate Resolution 765 which seeks to conduct a probe on the killings of priests Richmond Nilo, Mark Ventura, and Marcelito Paez, and other attacks against other religious leaders of the country.

“A public hearing can be a venue for us to evaluate the festering culture of violence in our country. Hanapan natin ng solusyon ito dahil nakakabahala na ang tumitinding karahasan sa ating lipunan,” he said. /muf Syrah Vivien Inocencio/INQUIRER.net