People can get killed for P5,000 or less

As far back as we can remember, murders and assassinations have always been perpetrated and this practice has never really stopped. Chinese businessman Leonardo Ty was murdered more than a decade ago and just recently, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the killers who are believed to be members of the Alex Boncayao Brigade. In 1987, Local Government secretary Jaime Ferrer was gunned down by three young men. Two years ago, there was the highly-publicized shooting of Congressman Luis Bersamin — and the list goes on through the years of people who have been victims of assassinations by hired guns.

All these are really no different from the recent attempt on the life of Batanes Gov. Telesforo Castillejos. It’s very likely that the pre-dawn attack may have been politically motivated considering the position of the victim. Although there were earlier theories that it may have been a simple case of “road rage” with the governor’s SUV cutting another vehicle, reports that four heavily armed men perpetrated the attack easily discounts this possibility.

Police are also theorizing the gunmen may have been “amateurs” since the governor and his driver were not fatally wounded, and the fact that the gunmen did not approach the vehicle to make sure they finished off the target. This elicited barbershop gossip that perhaps those who ordered the killing may not have had enough “budget” to hire top rate professional hit men. Which brings to mind the sad truth that in this country, you can hire anybody to kill someone for as low as P5,000.

The Mafia calls this a “contract.” Whether it’s fact or fiction just like in the Godfather, it is said that when you get a dead fish on your doorstep, it means your days are numbered and you’ll soon “swim with the fishes.” Life has become so cheap in a country like the Philippines where an amount as low as P5,000 or less can get you killed. To quote a famous GMA line, “Isang bala ka lang.” But the amount can go up to P15 million and sometimes to as high as P50 million depending on your position in life and if you are what is called a “high profile, high value” target — which will require more planning and logistical support to plan the hit.  Assassins-for-hire will spend a lot conducting surveillance operations to monitor the target’s activities and find loopholes in his schedule. The harder the target is, the higher the contract price.  

Just like other “professionals,” guns for hire also go through apprenticeship and training. It is even said that in Abra — dubbed as the “murder capital of the North” — there are “training camps” reportedly maintained by some politicians, with amateurs allegedly given easy assignments (like an uncooperative government employee refusing to sign an anomalous contract for instance) to give them enough practice before they are dispatched to get rid of high value targets like political rivals. Even today, news about people getting killed on an almost daily basis continue to provide fodder for the local gossip mills in that province.

Journalists are also most vulnerable as targets, with the Philippines still having the distinction of being the most dangerous country outside of Iraq for journalists. Just two weeks ago, a provincial radio commentator named Rolando Julia was shot. Julia’s murder is believed to be politically motivated since the suspect is reportedly the rival of Julia’s brother Nelson, a town mayor in Camarines Sur. But more often than not, the motive can be “work related” especially if someone is unhappy being the subject of a media man’s comments or columns. Aside from murder, the other big threat a journalist usually faces is a libel suit like what happened to our good friend, Malaya publisher Jake Macasaet. In this country, nine-year-old cases or even older ones can be revived from out of the blue.

A few months ago, a Davao-based businessman was killed by motorcycle riding gunmen for refusing to give a P20,000 revolutionary tax to the New People’s Army. Right now, businessmen, politicians and just about anybody is an easy target. No doubt people who feel their lives are under threat take every measure to protect themselves, hiring professional bodyguards, riding in bulletproof cars and even going to the extent of arming themselves and going through target practice sessions. The sad part is that many of these guns-for-hire turn out to be ex-military or police personnel.

The situation in Mindanao is worse with practically everyone carrying a gun, with high-powered weapons like M-203 grenade launchers available. It’s amazing how the place has become a no man’s land. And with the looming all-out war between the military and the MILF, that elusive peace will never happen, at least not in the next couple of years because of that aborted MOA signing. We can expect more violence, where killings will become an everyday part of life.

In fact, we have invited outgoing Philippine National Police Director General Sonny Razon at the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) Forum “PNP Night” so he can tell us more about these killings and the crime situation in the country. The PNP claims there has been a drop in the country’s crime rate for the first six months compared to the same period last year, but the public perception is clear: crime is going up.

With another high profile assassination attempt, things have not really changed much over the past several decades — because life in this country has become so cheap that literally, “a few pieces of silver” can get your head blown away.

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