Violence Close Up

This afternoon our maid Rebecca's nephew was murdered. He was the youngest son of her sister, a young man of 32 with 3 children and a wife working abroad in Singapore. Rebecca's sister, the mother, lives close by and takes care of the children.

The nephew it seems was thinking about running for election to Baranguay Captain in the upcoming local elections in the province. Men with guns broke into his home to dissuade him of the notion. Permanently. Rebecca says that in this province of Abra political violence is terrible. Abra is notorious for its nastiness. In addition to violence against those who want to challenge incumbents at the polls, political organizers are threatened and worse, and whole communities are threatened to keep them from turning up to vote. Rebecca's parents sometimes hid out in the bamboo when things got tense.

I read the local paper every day and each and every day there is a little or bigger story about a murder of a local politician or aspiring politician along with frequent stories of a journalist being shot to death. Usually the killers are on a motorbike and get away easily. Many must know who did it.  Occasionally someone is arrested.

Seeing Rebecca breaking down in agony and tears, I think of all the members of that extended family and what a sad sad night this is for them. And how many other sad nights there are for the living victims of this culture of political violence.