EDITORIAL - Time to make a last stand

It takes another sensational killing like that of  lawyer Noel Archival and two of  his aides in an ambush in Dalaguete Tuesday to remind people of  how rampant killings have become in this country. Before the Archival incident, there have been daily murders committed, but usually of people of lesser note.

And that is the problem with crime in this country, or at least part of the problem -- the tendency of people to get calloused and inured until shaken, usually because of  the personalities involved and not by the crime itself.

This is not to demean the killing of Archival, who was one of the more prominent criminal and colorful lawyers in Cebu. But it is a matter of fact that killings do happen everyday, including one just the other day over a, hold your breath, P10 debt but that nobody even looked up from the papers to ponder on it.

The point is, let not the sensationality of the killing, nor the prominence of the person involved, detract from the core issue at hand, which is the killings themselves. In other words, these killings have become too rampant and commonplace that it is a wonder why nobody has taken really serious steps to stop them.

Yes, the killings can be stopped. But it will take a long time, a lot of hard effort, and the involvement of everybody. And by everybody we mean every living and breathing soul there is. That is because nobody is safe anymore.

If ever society has to make a fight out of this, it has to be the fight of everyone. It may be too easy to pin the blame on the police, or other law enforcement agency. But that suffices only in ordinary times. But these are no longer ordinary times. These are killing times, whether you like it or not.

Deterrence and solution will naturally be the field of expertise of the police. But other sectors can help. Ordinary citizens cannot continue being scared and oblivious to the criminal activities going on around them. The least they can do is tip off the authorities or be active and unscared witnesses.

Schools must redouble their efforts to instill in the young the right values of  living, while they still can be instilled those values. The Church must redouble its efforts not just to define to the faithful the clear difference between right and wrong but to be clear and model examples of the right distinction.

Businesses can make it part of their corporate social responsibilities to provide financial assistance to programs and initiatives that can make communities safer from crimes. They can anonymously provide bounties for the capture and prosecution of criminals. Without a concerted fight, it will be each man to himself.