Batman

December 26, 2007

I love Davao City.

In 2001 and 2005, it was adjudged by the Asian Institute of Management as the most competitive metro city in the Philippines, edging out Metro Manila and Cebu. The city is also a perennial runner up to the 40 Best Cities in Asia and that makes it, according to Asiaweek which conducted the survey, the Most Livable City in the Philippines.

As far as “livability” goes, it ranked 18^th followed by Cebu at 19^th while Manila was at far 25^th place.

It also earned the distinction of having the Best Police Office in the Country for six years from 1999-2005. With a crime rate of 0.8 cases per 10,000 per month, it’s one of the most peaceful cities in Asia. At least, that’s what the city government’s website (www.davaocity.gov.ph) says.

Unless my math is wrong, that’s roughly 160 cases per month. In a city of two million people, that’s not half bad when taken independently. Crime solution efficiency, however, dipped five points last year from 89 percent in 2005. The decline in crime solution efficiency for index crimes was mainly due to the increased of the unsolved crimes against persons, said the National Economic Development Authority 2006 Region-XI Economic Performance.

The authorities in these parts are just counting the rising body count killed nearly daily in the manner that would have earned the approval of Don Corleone: quick and easy. Maybe the Davao City Police Office hires statisticians as law enforcers? I've read of several killings attributed to the men on motorcycles, which the media ominously dubbed the Davao Death Squad, yet i haven't heard of a single arrest. That should bring down the crime solution efficiency several notches. 

What about witnesses?

No problem. In this city, nobody’s breaking the code of Omerta. Not if you like death to come knocking on your door while you sleep at night. Death, in this instance, rides a 94-kilogram machine with a 4-stroke engine and a max speed of 125 KPH while his scythe spews .45 caliber bullets.

As far as superheroes go, Batman was not invincible. He was human who pushed his limits to near breaking point to keep Gotham City safe from super villains and ordinary criminals. His motivation was revenge. You don’t hear batman talk about rainbows or pretty ponies or pontificate about abstracts like love, patriotism, and justice whenever he collars a criminal. They get owned and their asses thrown in jail, period.

Last December 24, while getting ready for breakfast with two broadcaster-colleagues, 51-year-old Ferdie “Batman” Lintuan was gunned down in broad daylight by death on a motorcycle. The term Batman is a corruption of the words “Batang Mandaya,” after the tribe where he supposedly belongs.

Belonged. I sometimes forget he’s dead now — relegated to the past. Rendered from passive verb “is” to “was” by bullets that stayed true to their nature. Just like that.  Right now, Somebody should tell his four children (who are orphans now after their mother succumbed to cancer two years ago) that their father did not die in vain. it's hard to feed them with virtues when they see their father's body lying in that casket. For these children, Christmas will no longer be the same again.

He might not have worn the dark cape, but in his radio program, Lintuan was also relentless in his attempt to check corruption and abuses in government. 

I remember four years ago, another broadcaster, the colorful Jun Pala, was killed in the city. As expected, nothing came out of the task force that was formed to investigate and run after the killers.

Right after Ferdie was killed, Task Force Batman was created. Is it farfetched to declare that nothing will come out of this investigation? Maybe or maybe not. But excuse me if I won’t hold my breath while waiting.

Unfair or not, Ferdie was associated with congressman Prospero Nograles, a known rival of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Unfair or not, his commentaries were dismissed as nothing more than black propaganda to dirty the administration of Duterte. Before he was killed, Ferdie was harping what he claimed was an overpriced People’s Park – the pet project of Duterte — pointing particularly to the relocated trees.

I will not venture to guess Ferdie’s motivations and alliances. Nobody’s perfect, certainly not me.

But in a city vaunted for its discipline and P300-million peace and order fund, people shouldn’t have to die for expressing their opinions. And if they do, somebody should go to prison for it. As the caped crusader in his later years realized, revenge is not the antidote to crime.

Justice is.