Deaths in July

For three teachers in Masbate, July is the cruelest month and not April as T. S. Eliot averred. This July, two public school teachers, Mark Francisco and Edgar Fernandez had been shot dead on the same day. Like Francisco, Dexter Legazpi was shot at by armed, masked men in camouflaged uniforms; unlike the two other teachers, Legazpi survived.

Francisco and Legazpi were known to be linked to the Masbate chapter of the progressive group Alliance of Concerned Teachers or ACT. As reported, groups like ACT, Anakpawis, Kabataan, Gabriela, and Bayan Muna had been subject to harassments and vilification from the military which accuses them of being political fronts for the New People's Army. Whatever truth there is to that claim, however, it does not-and cannot-justify the violence that visited these public school teachers. Not from the military, not from anyone. And especially, not during the current Aquino Administration which vowed reforms to government. As it is, the deaths of Francisco and Fernandez is said to bring to a total of four extra-judicial killings during P-Noy's watch.

This is truly disturbing.

For while we are buoyed by news that instances of anomalies and irregularities in government transactions are now being earnestly investigated; by the high rating of trust that is accorded Aquino; and by the appointment of former CHR head Leila De Lima as Justice Secretary; the violence against people in media, against government critics and activists appears to be unabated in this Post-Arroyo period. Marching orders notwithstanding to the DOJ, in provinces like Masbate and yes, even Camarines Sur (the Belen shooting incident in Nabua is a good case in point), armed individuals remain unaffected and unperturbed.

This is because Malacañang's power and resolve have yet to reach "remote" places such as Palanas, Masbate. Until they do, those who have the wherewithal to secure guns and goons go after defenseless teachers like Francisco, Fernandez, and Legazpi.

The President must hurry; we are losing teachers fast.