EDITORIAL - When the home is no longer safe

Two crimes occurred yesterday in Cebu City that were similar in nature.

In the first, Juanito Apari, 34, and his live-in partner Editha Pulbos, 40, were killed after assailants shot them in their hut in Sitio Continental, Barangay Duljo-Fatima.

As both were shot in the head as they slept, police believe they had been deliberately executed.

In the second incident, caretaker and maintenance man Pelagio Marine Jr. was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in his room at the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Roque in Barangay Mambaling.

While this may have been just a crime of chance, the suspect has been blamed for a previous attack on a student.

Both of these incidents fall under the classification of a home invasion. Never mind that the couple just lived in a shanty in Duljo-Fatima and the caretaker just stayed in a room at the church compound.

A home invasion is when an offender unlawfully enters a building residence while the residents are still inside. This term has not caught up here, but it is something that is becoming more common in the US, both the incident itself and the term used.

It is one thing when criminals lie in wait for you then shoot you when your car is stuck in traffic, or rob you in a dark corner, or pick your pocket in a jeepney, or use your identity to buy things online, it’s another thing when they choose to attack you at home.

All crimes are personal in nature, but when the criminal decides to go for you where you feel safest and most protected and where your family lives it goes beyond personal. It is a sad reflection of the times we live in when criminals have been emboldened or feel safe enough to follow us home or seek us out where we live.

Needless to say things must be done, by both authorities and citizens alike, to make sure criminals do not get this level of brazenness and confidence. If we are not safe in our homes then where can we be safe?