By Rolo B. Cena
Random
Dumaguete Star Informer
13 November 2016
Albuena Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Sr. was shot dead in
his jail cell in Leyte! Espinosa has
been considered one of the strongest witnesses on drug trafficking cases
against Senator Leila Delima and even against those high-profile members of the
yellow team.
In September this year, another headline became
staple of the Philippine media when a riot inside the National Bilibid Prison
broke killing Tony Co and leaving Peter Co, Vicente Sy and Jaybee Sebastian
wounded. These personalities were
allegedly living in luxury inside the penitentiary under the blanket of feisty
Senator Delima. Sebastian, known to be
the king of drug lords was in critical condition though later reports confirmed
he was able to recover. They were tapped
to become state witnesses, too.
Back to Espinosa, the issue on CIDG involvement or it
masterminding the killing does not come a surprise. In the affidavit of Espinosa, he narrated
that among others, there are seven CIDG officers involved in the illegal drug
trade operated by Rolando Espinosa’s son Kerwin, who was lately arrested in Abu
Dhabi.
In hindsight, Senator Lacson claims that Espinosa’s
case was an example of extra-judicial killing is an overstatement of the overwhelming
phenomenon taking place in the country’s war against drugs. The yellow camp on the other hand dismissed
its own seemingly theatrical indignation blaming the administration; the
administration’s stalwart Pres. Duterte however was not surprised about the
killing.
Delima and Duterte continue to thrill the more than
100-million Filipino people with their game called “dama,” if “irritate” is a geometric underestimation. So far, two were down: these “pitsas”
are as important as the others in reaching the “dama stage” when the last of the “pitsas” gets to the last row of the board to win the game. Take note, the manner by which the last of
the “pitsas” reaching the last row
critically depends on the schematic maneuvers of the players. Conversely, the manner depends critically on
the players’ ability to tactically position the remaining “pitsas” in the board.
Strategic thinking is key to this game, which undoubtedly each players
do posses.
Recall that Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, Police
Chief of Albuera, promised Espinosa of safety after naming names of those
involved in illegal drug trade in Eastern Visayas. A month after his transfer to Baybay City
police-sub-station, he was killed by CIDG in what they called as shootout. According to reports, CIDG barged in the
station with the search warrant served at 3:00 in the morning. During the alleged service, Espinosa shot the
CIDG Team that resulted to them killing him.
What a dramatic and gripping twist:
a search warrant served in the wee hour of the morning to a prisoner
owning a gun and they took with them the hard drive that purportedly contained
the footage of the incident.
Oops, another wrong linear movement of the “pitsa” between grids of inconsistent
circumstances lately, which the other player wasn’t keen about moving: President Aquino became suddenly interested
and vocal of Espinosa’s death. Why of
all the killings, whether initiated by the team against drugs or otherwise, he
became so overwhelmingly interested in the results? For a former head of the country that chose
to keep mum about the operations against drug traffickers to be all of the sudden
interested in one personality, this is exasperatingly ridiculous.
Most fishes are caught in their mouths, especially
when the bait is horrendously attractive; others through a net whose length and
width vary according to the intended catch.
One, two, and who’s next? I wonder what happened to Kerwin Espinosa now
after his arrest? Has somebody thought
of protecting him after his father was killed?
With the affidavit issued by the older Espinosa losing its probative
value with his death, although the same can still be used to corroborate
testimonies of other witnesses, I wonder if these major players at the other
side of the board are exceedingly strategic enough to think and act three steps
ahead of the opponent. Seems like they
are not, look what happened to Espinosa.
By the way, “dama”
is so easy to play, especially when the players are skilled with the tricks of this
old-time siesta board game discovered by the Egyptians. At the side though, the primitive Egyptians and
other Middle Eastern thinkers were among those strategists the world adores
today.
The bereaved family of Espinosa mourned for the loss
of a father and a husband, no longer a political leader while the entire nation
grieved for the loss of two statesmen:
Misters Truth and Justice. Mister
Truth, nowadays, is the specie that is becoming extinct especially with the
advent of technology called greed.
Mister Justice on the other hand is another specie that, by its own process,
is slowly self-decaying its genetic disposition especially with the rise of
group called self-proclaimed righteous predators.
When greed and self-proclaimed righteous predators collaborate,
they create chaos called conspiracy whose theory is undoubtedly translated into
board game called “dama.”
Those “pitsas” drawn
in the “dama” board have been cowed
in to take the roles of lambs offered to the altars of the Abrahamic ritual
just so to protect relationships with the gods.
More sacrificial lambs are coming. Beware!
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