Filipinos are known for the ningas-cogon attitude, that kind of short-sighted, easily discouraged outlook in life, where in the end nothing gets done to solve a problem.
Take the case of the shooting incident at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City where three students died, and twenty others were injured by guns fired by two assailants.
The case highlighted shortcomings anywhere you look. In a timeline, the signs were there: from the events before the shootings to the time of the shootings to the aftermath. which seemed to show swift government action.
Was there a reasonably fast response to address the problems the situation exposed to the whole world? I believe not. All the depictions in the media were hyped, meaning exaggerated to the point of being faulty and misleading.
Everything was hyped to show swift government action.
Sometimes you feel that being in the news and showing some Cabinet Secretaries visiting and meeting people is good enough. Of course not.
The visits and shows of concern caught the attention of the media and viewers, but what has happened since then, since the incident occurred three weeks ago, on June 22, 2026?
For example, is there a legislative action that will lead to a revision of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Law? If there are no amendments to this law, does that mean the current age of criminal liability should remain, and that the no-imprisonment concept in the law is all right and needs no qualification or change? Several Senators and Cabinet Secretaries have voiced their opinions on this. There should be action here.
If there is no amendment, then we just have to wait for more of the same heinous crimes by youth offenders. Has society benefited from this situation, in which the law needs to adjust to the pace of rapid technological breakthroughs that significantly alter human behavior among youth?
Sec. Angara mentioned the problem of a lack of guidance counselors. What are his plans on this? We need to know. That's his job to solve this capability problem.
Sec. Gatchalian sympathized with the parents of the victims. But what has he done to ensure that youth offenders receive proper treatment? One thing stood out. There is no professional psychiatric service that his Department is providing to the two shooters.
Looks like his agency can provide shelter and assign staff to monitor the offenders, but there is a severely inadequate psychiatric service that will reshape the behavior of the two.
Does he already have a Memorandum of Understanding within the Department of Health for such care?
The Mayor of Tacloban City was quick to point out the failure of the parents in providing adequate parental care, but he never admitted that there is no Bahay Pag-sa in Tacloban City where the shootings occurred. A deft move. Does he already have a plan to construct and man it ASAP? A Highly Urbanized City without a Bahay Pag-asa - a place where specialized services can be given to youth offenders that is distinct from the treatment of prisoners at the City Jail. That is incredible.
Congressman Martin Romualdez was quick to offer help to the families of the victims. But did he also touch on the above-mentioned concerns? Or was everything for show and already forgotten?
I admire former Congressman Ted Failon for giving valuable and extended airtime to this issue ever since the June 22 shootings. I join him in this call to action.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonNews