Female Stude Mauled by Fellow Gang Members

Recently, a female high school student was found sprawled inside a restroom in one of the many schools located here in our District.  The said student who collapsed was rushed to a nearby hospital where she undergoes immediate medical attention. Based on the medical examination conducted, her genetalia were swollen probably by a bump of a hard object, her body black and blue, and half of her beautiful face bloated with bruises. She was said to be in a 50 – 50 condition during that time of hospital admission.  Upon investigation of the local authorities she was mauled by fellow gang members when she tried to quit from the gang.

The school administrator on the other hand faces difficulties in identifying existing gangs inside the said campus especially that gang who committed the crime. That particular gang issued a warning of its own to fellow students not to identify them otherwise they and their families will suffer retaliation.

I know gangsterism is not only confined here in the Philippines. I heard there are some places where gangsterism is much more worst than us. But like them we must not accept it just as it is.  We must do something against it. We may not eradicate them totally but somehow we can minimize its popularity and effects.

What happened to that student?  She survived the mauling but she is still nursing the trauma of the experience.

The Most Horrible Holdup Incident

Horrible! That is how I describe the holdup in Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in Laguna, Philippines last Friday, May 16, 2008.  I never have imagined this will happen here in the Philippines. But it happened.  The hitman made sure all the victims are hit in the head and he succeeded.  My heart sympathizes for the victims and their families who never expected such fate will befall them on that day.  Along with others I condemned such act and pray that the culprit will soon be captured and pay for their atrocities.

May God help us!

 

Note: To see the pictures, link to www.phileagle.bravejournal.com

The Girl Who Made Headlines

The death of an 11 year old girl made headline to a National Newspaper last Thursday in the Philippines. Mariannet Amper committed suicide inside her family’s shanty shocked the whole nation and brought Filipinos into tears. In a letter she wrote addressed to a television program that grant wishes to selected viewers found after her death she only wished for a pair of shoes, a bag, a bicycle and jobs for her parents. Her father had been out of job for several months and her mother works part-time in a noodle factory earning less than a dollar a day.

In her diary, Mariannet wrote about how her family lived in a shanty without running water and electricity. And how she and her mother washed clothes for money the time her father got sick. Another entry revealed that even going to church was difficult because they lack money for transportation.

Her father, Isabelo Amper was quoted saying her daughter committed suicide because of extreme poverty. According to reports, the night before her suicide she asked him a hundred pesos (about 2 dollars) for her school project, but he doesn’t have the money.

Just as President Gloria Arroyo told a business forum that her economic reforms were bearing fruits Mariannet’s death graced the headlines. “The common people are now feeling the benefits of a growing economy,” she said.

However, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) Institute found in a recent survey that there are still nine million Filipino families who rated themselves poor.

And Mariannet’s family is just one of them.

AFP