Thoughts on Holy Week

How come it took the Philippine National Police more than a year to decide to dismiss the cops who took part in the Atimonan (Quezon provice) massacre, a flagrant abuse of power?

That kind of serious offense by PNP officers, led by Supt. Hansel Marantan, should have merited immediate action from higher-ups.

Clearly, the Internal Affairs Service dragged its foot on the case before recommending the dismissal of those involved in the heinous crime to PNP Director General Alan Purisima.

If the massacre was not well publicized, that case would have dragged on for years; the delay would have led to the vindication and reinstatement of those involved.

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The public should monitor the multiple counts of murder against the accused in court.

Vigilance will make the judge, whoever he is, think twice before accepting bribes for the acquittal of the accused.

In this country, court decisions are sometimes for sale.

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Chief Inspector Isidro Cariño, whose alleged abusive conduct  this column exposed on Tuesday, tried to make up for his arrogant behavior by trying to commit yet another arrogant act.

Cariño allegedly hit another vehicle with the car he was driving in a parking area in a Quezon City mall.

The closed circuit television camera showed he was at fault.

Instead of apologizing and settling the matter with the owner of the car he bumped, the police officer reportedly ordered the car taken to Camp Karingal with the parking attendant who was parking the car.

After this column came out Tuesday, Cariño called up the secretary of the owner of the car he bumped.

He told the secretary he wanted to see her boss at the traffic office at Camp Karingal to settle everything.

The nerve of this guy!

Since he was at fault, shouldn’t he try to pacify the other party by being humble enough to go to his office?

What kind of a man is this police officer?

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Here are things to ponder on during  Holy Week:

If God is all-forgiving and all-loving, how come most Western religions teach that He punishes sinners?

Isn’t the belief in a God who forgives and loves without condition contradictory to the teachings of a punitive God?

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The Catholic Church was supposedly founded by Jesus of Nazareth who preached about loving our neighbor as ourselves.

How come in the early years of the  Church hundreds of thousands of nonbelievers were killed to perpetuate the teaching of its supposed founder?

Why did the Inquisition kill so many Catholics it believed were heretics?

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The Catholic Church teaches that the Pope can never err on matters of faith and morals.

But how come some Popes in the past were immoral?

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At the Ateneo, we were taught by the Jesuits that the seal of confession had never been violated.

But the Katipunan, a secret patritotic  organization in late 19th century Philippines, was exposed  by a priest to the authorities because a sister of a Katipunan member had confessed about its existence.