Law of the jungle
Kalinga Gov. Jocel Baac can’t be blamed for what he did to broadcast journalist Jerome Tabangay of dzRK Radyo ng Bayan in Tabuk City. He’s a hillbilly and thinks and acts like one.
Hillbillies, people who live in unreachable mountains away from civilization, act out their anger without regard for civilized behavior.
People in these mountains follow the law of the jungle.
They speak with their clubs or fists.
Baac thinks that because he’s governor, he holds the power of life or death over his constituents.
Tabangay is lucky Baac (if the “B” was changed to “P,” his name would have been “Paac” which in Visayan means bite) he only got a “bite” from the governor.
Baac’s “bite” consisted of hitting Tabangay with a microphone on the mouth.
Tabangay had criticized Baac for the reported prevalence of “jueteng,” an illegal numbers game, and illegal logging in the province.
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The Department of Interior and Local Government should go easy on Baac because he was only following the law of the jungle.
By this law, big animals freely eat the small ones.
You know how Baac should be treated?
He should be placed as far away from his fellowmen as possible so he can’t do much harm to them.
He should be told to behave by a man with a whip.
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The Philippines is the second most dangerous place in the world for journalists, next to Iraq.
I think it’s the other way around.
Iraq comes second only to the Philippines.
In Iraq, where there is a war going on, journalists are killed in the crossfire between American forces and militants.
The bullets or bombs that killed them were probably meant for soldiers or militants they were covering.
But journalists in the Philippines are killed deliberately, as in the case of the Maguindanao massacre, or harmed intentionally, as in the case of Tabangan in Tabuk.
There are more journalists in this country who are killed deliberately than the number of journalists killed covering wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.
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Pasay Mayor Tony Calixto ordered his police chief, Senior Supt. Nap Cauton, to stop all illegal gambling activities in the city.
Cauton, a recommendee of Davao City Vice Mayor Rudy Duterte and considered a “straight” officer, followed his mayor’s order to the letter.
Now the mayor’s friends, who are allegedly into illegal gambling, are complaining.
People in Pasay are watching how long the order will hold.
