As quarrels in the streets go, the horrifying road rage incident at the EDSA-Ayala tunnel in Makati City is a textbook case of bullying and intimidation, gradually building up anger and hate until one party to the feud decides to do the ultimate and snuffs out the life of his/her adversary.
Marites Valmorio, 47, a household worker, and a minor, were on board a Toyota Innova (NCV 542) when the vehicle’s driver, 65-year-old Aniceto Mateo, got into an altercation with Yu. Mateo has just been hired as a family driver by his employer, presumably also the employer of Valmorio. And the minor in the vehicle is their ward.
In the heat of the altercation, Yu allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Mateo. The handgun’s bullet pierced the glass window, hit Mateo in the shoulder and lower head, and the family driver died on the spot.
You could imagine the horror the child felt during the attack, a feeling that presumably the child still suffers from up to this day. The same is true with Marites Valmorio.
Nothing is said of Mateo’s family, if he had any, but I’m sure his relatives are in distress at the moment, thinking of the injustice that the family driver endured at the hands of the road bully. A classic road rage that victimizes not just the victim and his family, but also the perpetrator and his family members.
No one wins in this tragic encounter on the road.
After this incident, as in other occurrences of this nature, the senators and congressmen are once again surfacing with their favorite solutions.
Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Thursday called for the revival of the death penalty following “another senseless death” of an elderly family driver.
“It is time we revive the death penalty and include more crimes to be punishable by death. If we are to save the future generations, we have to show them the right way of governance. Leniency and indifference will erode confidence and faith in government,” he said in a statement.
“Already we have seen how these criminals run roughshod over our laws because they know that they can get away with it with their money and influence,” he said.
Barbers, chairman of the House committee on Dangerous Drugs, asked why the suspect, identified as Gerard Raymund Yu, “got to own guns to kill helpless innocent Filipino civilians.”
“Corruption from the lowest ranking employees who facilitate or ‘fixes’ transactions for a fee, to the high-ranking officials in government who allow and empower the criminals to live among us, has enabled these criminals to run their wares with impunity,” he said.
Authorities arrested Yu in Pasig City and his black Mercedes Benz (DAD 9670) was also found in his residence. Found inside the vehicle was Plate No. BCS 77, the plate number used by the suspect when the shooting occurred last Tuesday, along with two Taurus cal.40 pistols.
The seized firearms matched the recovered fired cartridge case from the crime scene based on the result of the ballistic examination.
Meanwhile, San Jose del Monte City Rep. Florida Robes said Congress must now act on pending measures penalizing aggressive, hostile and violent behavior of motorists on the road.
Robes said road rage incidents that result in serious injuries or even death of a person will likely be prevented if motorists are aware that a hostile act of cursing, use of foul language or even moderate screaming can land them in jail.
Congresswoman said the passage of House Bill (HB) No. 1511, or the Anti-Road Rage Act, would prevent similar “utterly senseless” deaths.
“View from Calumpang” agrees with Florida and Robert Ace. Something has to be done about road rage.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonColumn #ColumnbyDiegoCagahastian #ViewfromCalumpang