Are the vigilantes now gun shy?

Someone called me up and tossed an idea which, for its sheer simplicity, astounded me no end. I could only describe his thought as nothing less than brilliant. Indeed, the stroke of the genius is simple!

While he had the courtesy of introducing himself to me, I committed to keep his name confidential. Mr. Caller made our phone conversation interesting with a question. "Did you notice that the vigilantes have gone scarce?

I wanted to negate his claim. The recent murders of a Raganas, in Carreta, a Cañete in T. Padilla and an Allera in Tabo-an could not, in my book, fit to the category of a slowdown. But, my caller beat me to the draw. He rattled off these names admitting that Allera's case was a likely vigilante act. But, he exclaimed that the reports of the Raganas and Cañete shooting hinted of other motives for their violent end. He caught my attention and having accomplished that, he continued with my least interference.

It seems to my caller that the murderous guns of the senseless executioners have suddenly gone silent. Here, he quickly added that he intended no pun. To him, there could only be two reasons for the unprecedented timidity of the otherwise ruthless present day gunslingers.

First. A Filipino named Leo Lastimosa and the second, an American named Ambassador Kristie Kenney. Let me explore his theory.

When Leo broke the story of a possibly repentant vigilante, my caller also saw a glimmer of hope. The vigilantes could be punished for their gruesome crimes. Leo's confessor could give us the full account of these serial murders. In so far as those which he had direct participation, he could provide the details of who ordered the execution of whom, why such a target was to be mercilessly killed, how the murder was supposed to be carried out, who supplied the weapon, where the killer would go after the fact, what kind of reward, if any, was he going to receive, who would give it and so forth and so on.

Leo's Arangkada story must have been monitored by the master criminal himself. That is how I call the leader of the vigilantes - master criminal. Anyone with the devious mind of the master criminal would always put his ear on the ground and familiarize himself with the ominous sounds of danger. There was a very urgent need to find out who was referred to by Leo. In all probability, the master criminal ordered a careful and thorough loyalty check to find out who of his members was on the verge of cracking. Such an underling of a vigilante could not, make it, should not, be allowed to open his mouth to tell the world of the crimes he had a part of. Horror of all horrors, it was not difficult to imagine that he would order the immediate and brutal execution of this infidel.

In the meantime, he put on hold all other murder orders. If execution in the recently repealed law imposing death sentence could legally be reprieved, this one was worth calling.

The presence of American Ambassador Kristie Kenney in Cebu City lately must have added a different dimension to the revelation of Leo. With her government expressing interest in the slaughter of people without due process of law, the master criminal must have been cautioned to slowing down. The American economic stick would always follow a pronounced political policy. Should US be unhappy with the way our democratic system was supposed to operate, it could follow up such displeasure with economic sanctions.

In the analysis of my caller, the combined pressure of a possible prosecution and the severity of a diplomatic clout must have taken its toll. So, to let the steam off, the order to go slow on the killings must have been issued.

My caller ended our talk with a food for thought. If the master criminal did not hold a high political position, why would he be afraid of the repercussions of Leo's exposé or the warning of America?