GMA wages war vs violence

Alarmed by the spate of high-profile killings in recent weeks, President Arroyo called yesterday for a broad-based campaign to stop an upsurge of violence in the country and build a "new coalition of peace."

She also convened an anti-crime summit yesterday as the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that "index crime" rose by 10.5 percent to 15,221 cases from January to April this year compared to the same period in 2004 with 13,774 incidents.

Index crimes are crimes against persons or property, and include murder, physical injury, theft, rape and homicide.

Some of these are defined as heinous crimes, which carry the death penalty.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes also said despite the increase in crime incidence, the situation "remains manageable" and that the government was still on top of the situation.

"The consensus is that criminality is a social phenomenon. The important thing is for all sectors of the community — including government agencies, non-government organizations, and people’s groups — to unite and work together in a coordinated fashion to address the criminality problem," he said.

Reyes said the objective now is "to restore credibility (to) the community, their belief that the government acts" to solve these problems.

He added that the government wants to "instill fear in the hearts of criminals" and make law enforcers feel confident that they will be "supported and secured" if they run after criminals "because sometimes, they are the ones being harassed."

At the end of the multi-sectoral and multi-level summit presided over by Mrs. Arroyo, she ordered all recommendations to be submitted to her as soon as possible so that appropriate presidential issuances could be made.

In her opening statement, the President said she would like to review the laws on gun-related incidents and limit the distribution of firearms.

"I want to look into legislation that can tackle access to firearms and bring their availability under control. I will also look at new, stiffer penalties for anyone using a firearm when committing a crime," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo urged "all concerned Filipinos to join me as we take back our right to live in peace and harmony, free from indiscriminate violence, be it on the streets, in our homes" or in television programming.

She also called on the country’s educators and teachers to develop new "value-based" programs in schools that would teach the youth the values of peace, respect for life, and resolving conflicts in non-violent ways.

The President also stressed the need to seek "cultural role models," many of them from the entertainment industry, to help condemn the "glorification of violence that coarsens the value of life itself."

She pointed out that, while there is a need to stop the upsurge of violence and solve the killings, including those of journalists, "we must also go beyond these crimes to turn around the culture of violence itself."

The government is currently under pressure to solve a series of recent high-profile crimes, including cases involving media personalities.

"I’m confident we can rally our people in a national initiative against violence and harness the spirit of moral indignation that resides in the heart of every peaceful, God-fearing Filipino," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo lamented that people faced "violence in far too many forms with far too many victims," ranging from domestic violence against women, criminal violence against law-abiding citizens, to violent attempts to overthrow the government.

She expressed fear that today’s culture is depicting far too much violence and this is having an increasingly harsh impact on the youth.

"There isn’t one person in this room that condones the increasing reach of violence in our society," the President said. "Yet, we see it everywhere: in the newspapers, on television and movies, and even in the lyrics" of music listened to by young people.

With the launching of her anti-violence campaign, Mrs. Arroyo expressed hope that "we look back to today as a day when we turned tragedy into action and launched a new national resolve to bring back the values that drive our faith and sense of moral purpose."

During the summit, Reyes said the participants agreed to work on solving the high-profile cases "without fear or favor" to show the public that the government is serious in its drive against criminality.

He said the authorities agreed to improve cooperation between the police and prosecutors, as well as the courts, to ensure speedier resolution of cases.

Reyes cited the need for law enforcers and prosecutors to coordinate "so that cases don’t get dropped on mere technicalities because the law enforcement agencies are not adept at collecting the proper evidence."

Aside from Reyes, among those who attended the summit were National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño and Court Administrator Justice Presbitero Velasco.

Others participants were Armed Forces chief Gen. Efren Abu, PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao, National Bureau of Investigation director Reynaldo Wycoco, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology director Arturo Alit, and officers and members of the various leagues of local government units.

The lawmakers present at the summit included Sen. Alfredo Lim and Reps. Arthur Defensor of Iloilo, Amado Espino of Pangasinan and Emilio Macias II of Negros Oriental.

Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone represented the League of Provinces of the Philippines in the summit.

Also at the summit were representatives of non-government organizations, led by lawyer Miguel Varela, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Citizens Action Against Crime chairwoman Teresita Ang-See, Employers Confederation of the Philippines head Ambassador Donald Dee, Philippine Export Confederation chairman Sergio Ortiz Luis Jr., Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption chairman Dante Jimenez, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. president Francis Chua, businessman and anti-kidnapping adviser Julio Tan, and former Quezon City barangay chairman Martin Dino, an anti-crime advocate.