If the government does not fight for its 19-year-old citizen who claims to have been raped by a Panamanian diplomat, other countries which have embassies or consulates here might take our laws for granted.
Members of the diplomatic community in Manila would be encouraged to violate our laws since they could easily get away with their crime.
And if that happens, families or friends of victims of crimes committed by diplomats against our citizens might take the law into their own hands.
Vendetta killings against abusive diplomats might take place.
That is not good for the diplomats who violate our laws, as well as for the country’s image.
So, to prevent such a situation from happening the Department of Foreign Affairs should strongly ask the Panamanian government to waive the
immunity of Erick Bairnals Schks, a technical officer of the Panama Maritime Authority, so criminal charges can be filed against him.
Schks should be tried in our courts as a lesson to other diplomats not to take our laws lightly.
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I’ll tell you why I feel very strongly about the rape case allegedly involving Schks.
A friend told me he shot at a car with a diplomatic plate after its driver did not stop after it bumped a woman who was crossing a street in Makati City.
The woman was badly hurt that my friend had to rush her to the hospital.
My friend said he didn’t know if someone in the car was hit when he fired his gun.
But he said he was sure the bullet hit the car because the rear windshield was shattered.
The incident happened many years ago.
He told me the story when I was having a drinking session with him and other friends two years after the incident.
Although I told him in that what he did was wrong, I am ashamed to admit that inwardly I cheered him.
Now, if that friend, who is a cop and should have known better than to take matters into his own hands, could do that (and I, a self-appointed nemesis of criminals, would silently cheer an illegal act), what can you expect from an ordinary citizen?
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It seems that the strong protest over the supposedly cutting of trees by SM Baguio Mall put up by Catholic Church leaders in the city was not motivated by a desire to protect the environment.
(SM management insists it was earth-balling the trees, not cutting them down).
Some quarters are saying that Benguet-Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon’s reason for hitting SM mall is purely business in nature.
The Porta Vaga Mall on Session Road, a stone’s throw from SM City Baguio, is owned by the Catholic Vicariate of the Mountain Provinces, according to Google.
SM Baguio most likely has eaten into the profits of the church-run mall.
The bishop is playing dirty by hitting his mall’s rival: His diocese has reportedly stopped holding Masses in the mall during Sundays and holy days.