The police is set to file double murder charges against six (6) “persons of interest” in the killing of two – a man and a woman – believed perpetrated inside a unit of a condominium along Buhangin road from J.P. Laurel a few months back.
According to the spokesperson of the Davao City Police Office Capt. Hazel Tuazon, the murder charges are likely to be filed on July 31, 2024. The “persons of interest” who Captain Tuazon said are already known, are not yet named. She did not cite the reason. But if we have to advance our own theory of the police’s non-disclosure of their names we believe that it is because, per the spokesperson’s statement, they are not even suspects yet but “persons of interest.”
Adding to the police’s misfortune is that all of the six “persons of interest” are still at large. Meaning, the charges cannot progress until they are brought to the fold of the law. There is however, one thing that could have led the police to the “persons of interest” – if the law enforcers did connect the dots.
We remember someone who was able to attend the concert cited as reason why the woman victim came over to Davao supposedly to see, told us that during the concert itself a man claiming to have come from Luzon was caught appearing on the lead wall begging for a woman to advise him of her whereabouts in the city. And it was also on the same evening that the murders of the two were believed to have been committed.
So, if the police had connected the dots from there then it is likely that the line could have led the law enforcers to the identities of the “persons of interest.”
When can possibly these “persons of interest” eventually become suspects and arrested by the police? Unless and until they are brought to the hands of the law chances are the double murder charges that the police intends to file by July 31 against the six will just remain documents in the hands of the prosecutors and be added to the dust gatherers inside the cabinet.
And yes, the police wants the city government to file charges against the management or owners of the condominium for failing to religiously comply with the ordinance mandating installation of CCTV cameras in certain kinds of establishments.
According to the police the condo buildings have no enough functional CCTV cameras that caused their probe to be impeded.
But the owners of the condo establishment are the ones everybody knows who. Will the city venture into filing a case? We will see.
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The Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) in Region XI has asked local government units (LGU) within its area of responsibility (AOR) to enact a “No Build Zone” ordinance in places declared as dangerous.
This one is a very good idea. But is it not too late of the day? Are there still areas within the central districts as well as in their peripheries that are not yet invaded by big businesses that are into property development?
We are asking these questions because from our own observations in the many years that we have been roaming the entire Davao City and the other provinces and cities in Southern Mindanao as required of our work then, we have noticed that large tracks of plains are already converted into massive residential housing subdivisions or leased out to big corporate farming ventures specifically those planted to export bananas and other fruits. Even the highland areas are already turned into sprawling plantations of exportable banana varieties.
In the rural areas of the 3rd district of Davao City for example what used to be rubber tree farms, pomelo plantations, massive coconut, coffee or cacao farms are now going “bald” after the trees were levelled to the grounds to give way to huge residential enclaves courtesy of nationally known property developers.
Other former farm lands are now sites of large swine and poultry compounds. True that these establishments are able to provide jobs to local residents who could have remained stocked in the farms had not the piggeries and poultry businesses as well as the construction of houses and the development of the former farms into subdivisions come to the rural areas.
But is the uplift in the economic lot of those directly benefitted from the onset of the development earlier mentioned enough to justify the possible eternal sufferings of the people as consequence of the destruction of the lend contours and subsequently the environment? The scenes in the massive flood in the Greater Manila and surrounding areas as well as in the central and northern Luzon are too vivid and disturbing to the people’s minds.
Unfortunately for the MGB, those charged of crafting policies in the local government, in their desire to supposedly balance environmental safety and the socio-economic development of their respective areas are also the most likely to provide gaps in the policies that would allow for strategic violations.
That is why we can see the hills adjacent Davao City’s GAP Farm nowhere to be found anymore. These had been bulldozed to convert them into plain to give rise to a housing subdivision.
The once lush sides of the Magtuod-New Carmen Road are now developed into posh residential subdivisions overlooking downtown Davao City and the calm water of the Davao Gulf – one amenity only available for the rich and powerful.
