EDITORIAL - Barang vs. cybersex

The resort to positive means in fighting child pornography, such as posting stickers that read "No to cybersex. God bless this house" on dwellings in his hometown of Cordova, is a good idea that provincial board member Arleigh Sitoy has thought of.

But it is a bad idea for him to threaten that if this campaign does not work in wiping out the cybersex phenomenon that has given his town such a bad name, he would be compelled to use witchcraft and slap a curse on those he suspects to be engaged in cybersex. "Ipa-barang ko sila," he was quoted in the papers as saying.

First of all, while plastering all houses in Cordova with the aforesaid stickers is a better and more positive approach to the problem than an earlier plan to shame suspects by defiling their homes with accusatory language, that alone cannot guarantee the ultimate solution.

And since stickers alone cannot hope to stop the problem, where then does that leave Sitoy? Will he be compelled to move on to the next phase of his campaign, as he has threatened, which is to "barang" or hex the suspects with curses of death?

Now that could lead to another problem altogether, and will only serve to compound the woes of Sitoy without even solving his original worries. In fact, Sitoy should never have made the "barang" threat in the first place.

By issuing the threat, Sitoy only made himself vulnerable to accusations of causing "barang" on anyone who might succumb to suspicious ailments that professional medical attention may not be able to sufficiently and credibly address, regardless of whether or not he indeed carried out his threat.

Aside from cybersex, which is a new phenomenon, Cordova is also bruited to be a place where "barang" is practiced. True or not, people tread the information gingerly. What this tells us is that, if Sitoy can dish it, he should also be able to take it. Then he will be far worse off than when he started.

The irony of it all cannot be lost in all of this, that while modern gadgetry can allow people from the other side of the world to enjoy pleasures without ever making contact, sorcery, on the other hand, is still very much in the picture as a possible, if potentially counterproductive, means to solve it.