“When I saw corruption, I was forced to find truth on my own. I couldn’t swallow the hypocrisy.” –Barry White
‘Juan Dela Cruz’ isn’t just a suspected merchant of chaos and intrigue, he a sniper and the one who operates a remote-controlled land mine in the Iloilo City Hall. He is a City Hall insider with Google-like data on just about any transaction the city government has undertaken, along with the personalities involved. He also still apparently holds a lot of keys to open Pandora’s box.
As long as he remains anonymous and has unlimited access to the mainstream media, he can detonate a land mine that will make life miserable for many corrupt characters, including those said to be falsely accused of committing wrongdoing. However, because ‘Juan Dela Cruz’ is a fictitious name, many zapped by the sniper will not be formally charged in court. They will merely be exposed to shame and embarrassment.
He is no pushover
Many of the names and designations (including their “mode of shenanigans”) mentioned in the second wave of his “terror attack” really exist (I’m not saying, though, the allegations against them are true); although, his motive for sowing massive bedlam is still unclear.
In his opening salvo, ‘Juan Dela Cruz’ wobbled (but failed to bundle out) the Manikan couple—Local Civil Registrar’s Office chief Romeo Caesar ‘Juncae’ Manikan and wife, City Tourism Office assistant chief Eireen Rita Manikan. In his latest blitzkrieg, he ripped through the territorial waters of primarily acolytes of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, accusing them of having conflicts of interest and other such “monkey business.”
He showed to all that he isn’t a Treñas bogeyman after all!
One thing for certain is ‘Juan Dela Cruz,’ being familiar with the terrain, must’ve hobnobbed with some of the characters he has mentioned as he is apparently familiar with the extent of their participation in crime, including the murder weapons.
‘Juan Dela Cruz’ knows where the bodies are buried.
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A video circulating on social media shows several armed men and women walking in an area believed to be a mountainous area somewhere in the Visayas or Mindanao. Most of them appeared to be healthy and strong, and in their 20s or 30s. They looked like Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets but may be new Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) recruits.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s, some NPA cadres that participated in gun battles against government forces looked skinny and malnourished. Now, they look like Olympic athletes—brimming with pride and confidence as they march wearing Nike baseball caps and large backpacks.
The CPP-NPA appears very much active and continues to attract “young warriors.”
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Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ