MANGKOKOLUM!

A JOURNALIST colleague plied me with questions a few nights ago. “Is it not a fact that triggermen are a dime a dozen in your home province? The gun-for-hire is a perennial cottage industry in those (accursed) parts, isn’t it?” He received a death threat. He was apprehensive that a hireling from Nueva Ecija would be sent for him. Oh, not all hired guns come from Nueva Ecija. Told him the gung-ho protagonist Johnny Rico in the sci-fi classic, “Starship Troopers” hails from those inclement parts-- although I’m told the surname Rico is rooted in Pangasinan. Yes, the devil-may-care butchering man-of-arms celebrated by Robert Heinlein is a Tagal-speaking Novo Ecijano. So is the patsy hireling Rolando Galman unleashed that fateful August 21, 1983 to do in ex-lawmaker Benigno Aquino, Jr. So is the ensnared hitman from Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija who, in broad daylight a few weeks back, did in tabloid newsman-broadcaster Arnel Manalo in Bauan, Batangas. What makes ‘em tick? They’re time bombs, set ...

MADALAS na nakasungaw ang kakatwa na bungkos ng salita, "nauwi sa mainitang pagtatalo" bilang pasakalye sa mga kasong serious physical injuries, homicide o murder. Gasgas na nga ang "mainitang pagtatalo" sa pahinang panlunsod at panlalawigan ng alinmang peryodiko-- sa aking bansa. Pilipinas. Ganoon ang palaging panimula ng krimen. Payak ang tinatawag na operating parameters o balangkas na napapalooban ng pagtatalo. Laging pagtatalo. Hindi kailanman naging talakayan. Hindi kailanman naging paliwanagan. Masisipat na susulpot lagi sa balangkas ng pagtatalo ang natalo at nanalo. Win-loss ang tuwinang kahihinatnan ng pingkian ng magkasalungat. Hindi kailanman nagbunga ng win-win o parehong nagwagi ang dalawang panig, pwe-he-he-he! (Now, let me share my two cents worth as a cold-blooded reptilian. You read that right: reptilian. A highly evolved sort of reptile akin to the serpent, the basilisk, the dragon, the dust-crawling kind. See me as something less than t...