“When I hear about people murdering, I wonder, What has to go through your brain to say, I don’t want him breathing anymore? What makes you get that angry? How can you take someone’s breath away? That just blows my mind.” –Gilbert Arenas
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas has all the reason to be jittery following the killings of Alain Muller in the Jaro district’s Barangay Cuartero and Delfin Britanico in the La Paz district’s Barangay Nabitasan last Sunday. Both incidents occurred just after the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) assured the public of strengthened security measures.
The murders must have left the mayor wondering: “Why did this happen during Dinagyang month? When the whole world is watching us! Why, all of a sudden, these two successive murders occur when Iloilo City’s peace and order situation has not been alarming in the past months?”
The killers did not commit the crimes in order to embarrass the ICPO or the city.
‘Of course, we are worried’
“Of course, we are worried—we have dignitaries coming,” Treñas stressed. “I don’t want incidents similar to Sunday to happen again!”
All of the mayor’s effort to attract visitors and potential investors to the annual festival would be in jeopardy if peace and order in the city were in dire straits. Acts of violence as exhibited last Sunday could destroy the “City of Love” image, which has inched its way back to normalcy after earlier being tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as the “most shabulized.”
Throughout January, Iloilo City is in competition with other areas observing cultural and religious celebrations.
Despite calls for law enforcement to prevent their anti-illegal drugs campaign from sullying the Dinagyang Festival with the blood of extrajudicial killings, it appears to have been a “voice in the wilderness.
No ordinary Ilonggo
Britanico was the youngest son of former Barangay Natin partylist Rep. Salvador ‘Buddy’ Britanico and Dr. Lita Celestial-Britanico. According to his LinkedIn profile, Britanico was co-head at Britlao Corp and manager at KM Haulers.
He was no ordinary Ilonggo—he was a productive and worthy member of society.
As a legitimate businessman, Britanico was highly regarded in his field and came from a well-educated and respected family in the Western Visayas. In an article, he discussed his decision to leave “a great job and a stable company” for a “smaller organization or a start up.”
He was also an avid cyclist and wrote: “I stayed in the new company for two years. I only disengaged because I had to settle down with family outside Manila. In those two years, I could proudly say that the company grew tremendously. Being the small kid on the block or in our industry, we picked our battles. We found our own niche. Growth was so well that our suppliers brought us to their headquarters in the US. Looking back, yes, I missed on some benefits especially when the old company I used to work for was acquired by a foreign giant. I saw Facebook and Instagram posts of my former colleagues being sent around the world for trainings, etc. But, deep inside, I was contended. I made an impact and I am proud of it. My involvement in that smaller company opened some doors in terms of business ventures which are already materializing now.”
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Alex P. Vidal, who is based in New York City, used to be the editor for two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ