Spare the innocents/ Additional gift wishes

Today, Niños Inocentes, we recollect not only Herod’s slaughter of infants to spite the newborn King of Kings. We recall too the many innocents killed or maimed by wild gunfire and firecracker blasts during the New Year revelry. As in the past, authorities will issue stern warnings. Police chiefs will tape gun nozzles of patrolmen, and generals will confine troops to quarters. Still braggarts in uniform or civvies will fire drunken shots in the air, endangering neighbors. And firecracker fiends, not content with risking own limbs for kicks, will lob explosives at passersby or point rockets at houses. Expectedly children will again fall victim.

What to do? When you hear a gunshot — usually softer but sharper than firecracker — find out from what direction. Ask neighbors for help to ascertain the identity and address of the gun firer(s). If able, determine the caliber(s) of bullet(s), and how many shots were fired. Better still, try to recover the shell(s), but use a hanky to pick it up, to preserve possible fingerprint evidence. Then, report to the police. Get the desk officer’s name and rank. Demand that they investigate immediately.

If someone is hit, rush the victim to the hospital. Then, recount what the victim was doing when it happened and where: lying in bed, walking on the street, or playing by the porch perhaps. If the bullet lodged in the body, the doctor will be able to retrieve it. If it exited, locate the slug; again handle with clean cloth.

Submit all info to investigators. With medical, ballistics and witness info, they will be able to triangulate who did it. The police always get their men — if the community helps. In at least three cases I closely followed, the shooters (all of them drunken lawmen) were indicted and the victims recompensed.

As for firecracker pranksters, demand police action too. Exploding firecrackers is illegal anywhere, if without permit from city hall. The police should and do know it: firecrackers injure, cause fires, and disturb peace and quiet.

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Last Christmas Day I ran a list of gift wishes of 49 cancer-stricken indigent tots in Batangas under the care of Cancer Warriors Foundation. The group led by cancer survivor James Auste has 20 more poor sick kids under its care in Manila. They knock on your kind heart to help make their wish come true, for they too deserve Christmas love and joy:

For details and to donate, e-mail [email protected]. Or contact Cancer Warriors Foundation: 1317 Lopez Jaena St., Paco, Manila. Telefax: (+63 2) 5622954. Mobile: (+63 917) 8485248. Website: www.c-warriors.org.

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 “God does not, never will, give up on us. We give up on one another and ourselves. Then we ask God why there is so little love in our midst. Jesus never gave up even on his enemies. He continued to care for them — by forgiving.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ

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E-mail: [email protected]