No Place for Violence in “Maogmang Lugar”

The deplorable act that took away the life of young Roselle Bandojo and other similar grave stories of violence done to our young girls and women in Naga City has disturbed and traumatized our Moagmang lugar. It has destabilized our sense of peace and order as a community, and eroded our safety and security that we no longer feel our young children are protected from harm in their environment.

We heed the City Mayor’s call for justice, echoed by the strong statement made by the Superintendent of the Department of Education in Naga City. The location in which the incident took place had previously been reported to be without any street lights, and similar occurrences of abduction had been reported to have taken place in the past. Preventive measures could have already been done proactively to address these concerns.

The painful lesson we glean from this is that it takes individual and family responsibility in protecting our children, proactive leadership in the barangay level, policing that involves community residents, and effective crime prevention and intervention programs by our local Philippine National Police (PNP) force to maintain peace and order. It is the responsibility of all, including the education sector who should teach the young early on about rights and responsibilities, and respect for women and girls.

Let us continue to pray and to cooperate with local authorities to bring justice to Roselle Bandojo and her family. There is no place for violence in Magomang lugar.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

“We must protect families, we must protect children, who have inalienable rights and should be loved, should be taken care of physically and mentally, and should not be brought into the world only to suffer. -INDIRA GANDHI

FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE:

“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

-PSALM 82:3-4